This is How Microsoft Supported Over 4,000 Indian Startups Between April'16 - March'17

Software giant Microsoft recognises the green pastures that the Indian startup ecosystem has to offer and wants to continue contributing actively in its growth, according to a recent report.

In its 2017 India Citizenship Report, Microsoft India has revealed that between the period April 2016 and March 2017, the company has supported over 4,000 Indian startups, skill trained about 30,000 youth and helped in training a whopping 26,000 teachers while working with several not-for-profit organisations and state governments.

Some of the programmes/initiatives that the tech giant has initiated or has become a part of to establish its ground in the Indian startup ecosystem are as follows:

Microsoft Accelerator: Through this, the tech biggie helps new businesses in their journey to excellence. Through the programme, Microsoft works closely with market-ready startups and provides them with the necessary tools, resources, mentorship and knowledge to become successful businesses.

BizSpark: One of the most popular initiative by the tech giant, it aims to provide support to early-stage startups in the country. The programme which is famous as Microsoft’s flagship initiative had handpicked over 100 Indian startups for its BizSpark Plus programme in 2016-17, where it helps the chosen startup multiply its customer base to record breaking numbers.

Microsoft Cloud Accelerator Programme: Through the programme, Microsoft aims to amp up the speed of adoption of its services such as Microsoft Azure and provide a hand in transforming business and governance in a mobile-first and cloud-first world.

Microsoft Educator Community programme: Under the programme, Maharashtra’s state government has embraced the QR Coded textbook idea conceived by a Microsoft India Educator Rajintsinh Disale. The idea enables educators/teachers to receive additional information and resources related to a topic of textbook by scanning a QR code.

Project Saksham: Under the project, the tech biggie has successfully trained over 3,307 educators across 123 universities in the Indian subcontinent. These trained faculty members have, in turn, further provided training to about 1,126 of their peers. In financial year 2016-17, the project helped in training 661 teachers across 21 universities across the country.

Microsoft and the Skill India vision: Keeping in line with Modi government’s Skill India vision, the tech giant brought the power of Predictive Analysis and Machine Learning technologies to sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and education in partnerships with several state governments of the country.

Meet 14 Startups Selected For Microsoft Accelerator's 11th Cohort

Going global and reaching out to more and more people beyond their home country is on the to-do list of majority of the startups. Software giant Microsoft has decided to help 14 such startups achieve this dream through the 11th cohort of its Microsoft Accelerator program. All the 14 selected startups are currently in their late stage, have an average age of 3.5 years and a team size of no more than 80 employees.

The 14 selected startups of Microsoft Accelerator's 11th cohort will get easy access to Microsoft's tech stack and Azure technologies and make use of the software giant's advanced cloud services in areas such as - Big Data, Cognitive Services, Advanced Analytics and IoT to scale their products and serve enterprise clients.

Microsoft had recently decided to shift the focus of its accelerator program to later-stage startups. Since the big shift, the program has had enterprise companies like customer experience management Customer XP, video assessment platform Talview, CRM platform Cloud Cherry and several others use their partner and customer network to climb the success ladder and take their operations to next level.

Since its 10 cohorts, the accelerator program had successfully established strategic partnerships with some of the biggest corporates in the world, which includes names like Wipro, TCS and Temasek to help the inducted startups with their GTM activities globally.

Here are the 14 startups who made the cut to Microsoft Accelerator's 11th cohort:

Simplilearn: One of the world's leading certification providers, it offers short-term online training courses to help professionals get certified and grow their careers every day. The users can access their courses anywhere, anytime and prepare with practice tests.

Clonect Solutions: It is a dynamic IT solutions company focusing on niche products in the area of enterprise Governance, Risk Management and Compliance Management (GRC) and software services. With a right mix of rich domain and technology expertise, and insights from both CFO and CIO worlds, Clonect helps organizations to leverage technology optimally and innovatively, addressing enterprise finance and legal GRC as well as other IT solution needs.

Kata.ai: A B2B conversational platform, Indonesia-based artificial intelligence startupKata.ai was developed to answer the challenge of providing an AI platform that works well with the complexity of the Indonesian language, an issue that is believed as one of the hurdles in developing the technology in Indonesia.

Liv.ai: Its speech API enables developers to convert speech-to-text by using Powerful Neural Network Models with exceptional accuracy and minimal latency. The API recognizes 9 major Indian Languages - English, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. Its system works with most accents and performs remarkably well in noisy environments.

DocsWallet: It provides users a hassle free way to get their valuable documents verified by the company's trusted verifiers and send it across the globe to 300+ internationally acclaimed Institutions from within the comfort of their home.

GIEOM: It offers a unique business visualization technology with Intelligent linking that monitors, controls and optimizes Operations while reducing risk. The cloud based software solutions and analytics company helps its clients to bridge the gap between systems, policies, regulations and business processes.

Megdap Innovation Labs: Founded with a singular goal of bridging the digital divide present in the country by creating an ecosystem for commerce that blends local relevance with a sustainable business model for all stakeholders. The focus is to bring the power of Online Commerce to the non-English speaking audience. In doing so Megdap wants to create a Technology Platform, Products and Tools that enables real time delivery of content in multiple local languages.

VideoKen: It is a powerful video based social learning platform built on a foundation of cutting edge research that has been presented at top international conferences, with multiple pending US Patents. It provides unique video indexing and navigation capabilities based on which a user can more effectively search for videos on any topic, curate them, create their Kenlist of video clips, take notes and insert questions inside Kenlists and share them.

Udaan: Currently in BETA, the startup is a collaborative landscape that aims to empower traders, wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers in India through technology. It is working towards making online trading simple, safe and convenient.

KrypC: A FinTech solution and service provider focused on bringing innovative solutions in the field of Blockchain. Currently bootstrapped, it aims to make good use of available resources and also create a partner network in markets like Amsterdam and Singapore so that they don't have to 're-invent the wheel' and attempt to start from scratch in some markets. It also has a unit in the UK and is in the process of setting up one in USA as well.

i-exceed: A technology products and services company, it operate across two major business lines, viz. products (Appzillon) and services (BFSI consulting services, Mobile Consulting Services Performance Management and Oil and Gas Technology Services).

Ace Turtle: It enables brands and retailers to capitalize on omni-channel opportunities. Ace Turtle, with its proprietary platform, integrates online and offline retail channels automating and optimising Omni-Channel fulfilment. The platform provides brands with a single view of inventory and a single view of customer. It helps reduce the costs and complexity of Omni-Channel transformation for brands by using their existing framework and systems.

Hotelogix: It is a cloud-based hotel management system to automate hotel operations, increase occupancy and boost revenue. Its property management system integrates all critical operations of a hotel on one platform. Be it a hotel's front desk, accounts, restaurants or the travel agents they work with, the hotel's team always remains up-to-date with real time information at hand.

MintM: It claims to be the world's only robotic platform which converts any digital display into intelligent enabling differentiated sales and marketing experience

Microsoft Accelerator Alum Transaction Analysts Collaborates with Telangana Government to Launch T-wallet

Microsoft Accelerator alum startup Transaction Analysts has partnered with the Government of Telangana to launch ‘T- wallet’, enabling cashless payments for all segments of the society. ‘T-wallet’ will be available as an Anytime Anywhere digital payment option across formats such as - Online Web Browser, Smart Phone, Feature Phone and even without a phone. T-wallet will be hosted on Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure, which provides the most comprehensive and secure platform to host the T-wallet.

Hyderabad based Transaction Analysts, is a digital payment service startup that is specialized in cashless payments and has been a provider of digital payment services to leading hospitals, colleges, universities, temples and corporate since 2010. Partnering with the Telangana state government on the T-wallet, the company aims to achieve financial inclusion and increase user transactions based on Aadhar, with or without the need for a bank account. Supporting Telugu, Urdu and English, the wallet is created on Azure platform and designed for scalable performance with enhanced security. Microsoft’s Azure being one of the most secure and agile platforms has been instrumental in making the entire procedure a safe and reliable one. Microsoft as a company has been at the forefront of digital transformation across industry verticals and continues to encourage and support digital empowerment through enabling startups like Transaction Analysts to create innovative technology solutions through its accelerator arm. Transaction Analyst was part of Microsoft Accelerator’s ninth cohort which graduated at Think Next in December 2016.

Despite being a state of the art digital payment system using the latest technologies, T- Wallet has been designed to allow all segments of society to do cashless payment without going through any learning process. Telangana government has made the use of Microsoft cloud to embark on their vision of digital transformation by empowering citizens and optimizing business processes. Citizens of Telangana can now use this one-of-a-kind wallet to make payments for both Government and Private transactions.

Wipro and Microsoft Accelerator Partner to Create Go-to-Market Opportunities for Startups

Microsoft Accelerator, a global program built to empower startups and Wipro Limited, a leading information technology, consulting and business process services company have entered into a partnership that will provide startups with greater opportunities to innovate and grow their business. This announcement was made at the accelerator’s flagship event - Think Next 2016 that brings together thought leaders who are driving transformation via innovation. Think Next 2016 also marked the graduation of 13 startups from its ninth cohort.

This partnership is part of Microsoft Accelerator #CoInnovate program which provides startups with more go-to-market (GTM) opportunities by working with enterprise businesses. Wipro will also refer select startups for Microsoft Accelerator programs and events. Under the partnership, referred startups will gain access to Wipro Open Innovation initiatives, such as:

• Global GTM reach to rapidly build scale


• An opportunity to integrate their solutions with select Wipro solutions


• Targeted Wipro marketing support for proactive business opportunities, among others

Wipro’s Open Innovation philosophy strives to bring together and   partner with key stakeholders such as startups, academia, expert networks, Venture Capitalists, Incubators/Accelerators and Technology Consortia in the external ecosystem in order to deliver business value to Wipro, its partners and customers.

“Microsoft Accelerator #CoInnovate program bridges the gap between corporates and startups. Connecting startups to corporates and crafting a win-win relationship is a critical need of the ecosystem today. The partnership with Wipro allows us to leverage our combined strengths and market reach to provide a whole new level of market access for our startups.” said Bala Girisaballa, CEO-In-Residence, Microsoft Accelerator. Bala mentioned that many of the portfolio startups, including CustomerXPS, CloudCherry, Zing HR, Altizon System and iBOT have seen great traction from Microsoft’s ISV Program and the accelerator’s corporate partnerships.

Commenting on the alliance, K.R. Sanjiv, Chief Technology Officer, Wipro Limited said, “Wipro has built strong connects in the global startup ecosystem, over the last three years, as part of our focus on building new open innovation capabilities. We are confident that our partnership with Microsoft Accelerator will be an important enabler in developing critical solutions for our customers, harnessing both the innovation taking place within Wipro and the external ecosystem.”

Through this partnership, enterprises stand to gain from access to the innovative technology solutions emerging from some of the best technology startups in the country. In addition, they will get a robust technology solution backed by the reliable delivery and support platform provided by Microsoft and Wipro.

Highlights from Think Next 2016

13 startups, Whodat, Betaout, MovenSync, Transaction Analysts, AllizHealth, Uncanny Vision, Meddiff, FarEye, Epictions, Germin8, Talview, Faircent and Surukam, graduated from the accelerator’s ninth cohort and were introduced to an audience of more than 550 corporates, investors, thought leaders, and Microsoft management who partnered to push the collaborative innovation.

The event also had Microsoft leaders, Judson Althoff (Executive Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Business, Microsoft Corporation) and Tzahi ‘Zack’ Weisfeld (General Manager, Microsoft Accelerator) addressing the audience on developments in the global technology and startup ecosystem. At the Think Next Panel - Transforming Tomorrow Together, Mr. Althoff, along with Aftab Mathur (Director, Temasek) and K.R. Sanjiv (Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Wipro Limited) and Balaji Suryanarayana (Co-founder, CustomerXPS) discussed the significance of enterprise-startup partnerships in the process of digital transformation. Microsoft also hosted the third edition of ‘All India Accelerators & Incubators Meet’ bringing together 35+ accelerators and incubation partners to drive greater impact to enable and empower the startups.

At the Think Next Panel, an impressive panel of speakers - Sharad Sharma from industry think tank iSPIRT, VCs Shekhar Kirani, (Accel Partners) & Samir Kumar (Inventus Capital), serial entrepreneur, K Ganesh, and Microsoft Accelerator alum, Aditya Sood, Sr. Director Engineering & Products, Nutanix deliberated on one of the most critical questions in the startup ecosystem – Why Go Global? and talked about the potential of India as a market for growth. Before the main event, Microsoft presented a highly curated set of startups to a select audience of investors, CMOs and Ecommerce businesses in a VC Speed Dating and two Market Access Programs.

Bala also mentioned that Microsoft Accelerator is currently accepting applications for its 10^th cohort, which is scheduled to start in February 2017.