Source: cio.eletsonline.com
As many as 54 tech startups have been selected under Microsoft India’s ‘Highway to a Hundred Unicorns’ programme, which was launched by the tech-giant to engage with innovators and entrepreneurs across Tier-2 cities to help them scale their businesses.
“The entrepreneurial energy of startups is rising well beyond the known metropolitan hubs and is remarkably high in Tier-2 cities, despite the obvious challenges. Through Highway to a Hundred Unicorns, we’ve been able to reach some highly promising innovators from each of the five states. In the next phase of our journey, we look forward to engaging with more startups and accelerating their growth and providing them with Microsoft’s platform to go global,” said Lathika Pai, Country Head, Microsoft for Startups – MENA and SAARC.
The startups, selected from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala and Telangana, will win Azure credits and a host of business and tech benefits, while the top three startups from each state will gain access to a year-long mentorship programme and a two-day founder bootcamp, a company release said. The fifth edition of the Microsoft outreach programme for startups had received over 530 applications.
The global software giant has claimed that more than 650 startups that have participated in the five events have benefited from the mentorship and guidance through technology workshops on Azure, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Under the programme, Microsoft works closely with state governments to strengthen the startup ecosystems in each state to help budding entrepreneus not just in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore but also in other Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities across the country.
