IDG, Microsoft India partner to help start-ups

Bangalore, Mar 14: IDG Ventures India and Microsoft India on Friday, Mar 13 have together announced an 'Early Stage Funding Program' for technological start- up companies. The program provides access to entrepreneurial, technology and financial resources. Start-up companies under this, will get the dual benefit of access to a Microsoft suite of the latest tools and technologies at no upfront cost under the company's BizSpark program; as well as access to funding of up to 25 crore rupees by IDG Ventures.

The program is open to technology companies that are under three years, and whose annual revenues are less than Rs 5 crore. Companies meeting these eligibility criteria will be offered access to development software at no upfront cost through Microsoft's BizSpark program; and asked to send their business plan to IDG Ventures for evaluation. Start-ups that meet the investment criteria of the VC will be provided access to funding of up to Rs 25 crore per company.

Speaking at the launch of the program, Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Microsoft India, said,"In the three months since we launched BizSpark, 275 start-ups have been empowered with access to genuine software at absolutely no cost. The partnership with IDG Ventures and their commitment of this corpus of funds gives deserving start-ups a chance to really accelerate their growth. We believe that it is critical for the industry to start innovating for India today, and start-ups are going to play an important part in this".

OneIndia News