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Microsoft revamps its startup programs with $500M commitment and new co-selling program

  • by Ulancer Contributor
  • In News
  • — 14 Feb, 2018


Over the last few years, Microsoft has launched a number of programs for startups that range from free BizSpark credits for Azure and Microsoft’s developer and productivity tools, to Microsoft Ventures and the Microsoft Accelerator programs around the world. These different programs never quite told a cohesive story about Microsoft’s commitment to startups, though. Now, however, the company is launching Microsoft for Startups, a program that aims to bring technology and marketing expertise to startups and that — maybe most importantly — includes a co-selling program that allows startups to piggyback on Microsoft’s existing sales force.

In addition, Microsoft is tweaking some of its existing programs to better support the startups in its ecosystem.

In total, Microsoft is committing $500 million over the course of the next two years to run joint sales engagements and offer to startups access to technology and community spaces.

But let’s get the bad news out of the way first: The number of credits for startups in the BizSpark and BizSpark Plus program will go down (though not for startups currently enrolled in these programs). Microsoft argues that this isn’t a big deal, though, and that its free offerings are still competitive with those of its rivals.

Charlotte Yarkoni, Microsoft’s corporate VP of growth and ecosystem, told me that she spent quite a bit of time with startups in and outside of the Microsoft ecosystem after she took this new role about a year ago. What she heard wasn’t that startups wanted more free credits — instead, they wanted more help from Microsoft to bring their products to market.

At the same time, Microsoft was also looking for ways to differentiate its startup programs from those of its competitors. “We started building around this concept of helping to broaden the reach for startups and go beyond the typical cloud credits to how we build a different program,” said Yarkoni. “How can we evolve our accelerator program and pull that forward and also think through how we can build more of a campus and neighborhood feel.”

The result of this is Microsoft for Startups, which includes a number of different components. The first is an expansion of the Microsoft Reactors project. These are physical spaces where entrepreneurs, developers, investors and others can meet and where Microsoft hosts a number of different social events and classes. Microsoft currently operates these in Redman, Seattle, San Francisco and New York. It’s now looking to open new ones in London, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Shanghai and Beijing, and Yarkoni tells me that it may move its existing Reactors to larger spaces as their leases come up.