Microsoft announces Startup Initiatives in India

On Wednesday, Microsoft India announced two new initiatives to assist startup entrepreneurs to innovate and grow in India. Under the Microsoft AI Innovate initiative, Microsoft will introduce its second cohort of startups. Also, Microsoft will introduce a new hackathon for startups to offer resources and support to developers in order to create digital solutions. The second season of the tech company’s AI Innovate is asking for nominations from software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups whose core applications or products are built utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.

At the launch of the initiatives, Microsoft India’s Director for Startup ecosystem, Sangeeta Bavi said, "With a deepened focus on core AI startups in the second season of Microsoft AI Innovate, we are bringing the best of Microsoft's AI capabilities in creating the magic with the power of data and AI." The initiative is backed by SaaS Insider and is designed to help startups scale their operations, fuel greater innovation, and create industry expertise.

Across the duration of this program, startups get to partner closely with Microsoft's engineering and product teams to create their core AI models. Microsoft further informed that the selected startups will get Open AI preview and credits, access to industry and technology deep-dive sessions and AI masterclasses by experts, and mentoring by startup founders and industry leaders. The first cohorts of 16 startups from the fintech, manufacturing, and logistics sectors graduated last month in March.