Microsoft Ventures (MV) is the investment arm of Microsoft. It is a global initiative of Microsoft to support startups all over the world. Microsoft helps entrepreneurs to take their brilliant ideas up to the final development and succeed in the startup ecosystem. Microsoft Ventures works almost exclusively with late-stage startups. It provides them with resources and tools, connections and knowledge, basically, everything that forms the heart and soul of an engaging startup that is past the initial stages of funding.

With its support, startups can mature from the chrysalis stage, and get their wings. Microsoft offers 4 to 6 month long customized programs for the startups. The various areas in which Microsoft can aid a promising startup are CEO coaching, team culture development, recruitment of talent, creation of distribution channels and much more. They also lend support for marketing, finance and technology management. Basically, if Microsoft chooses to support you, you will have your dream come true, your hoped-for strategic partner, who can show you the way to scale your business profitably and sustainably. Microsoft Ventures has several locations worldwide, including one in Bengaluru. The programs that Microsoft offers here are rated among the top in this region. It claims to receive over 1000 applications from India every year and helps 20 startups to move ahead in their respective field.

Also Read: India’s IoT Startup Gets Funds

Here are a few startups who have received Microsoft’s support in the recent months:

Admission Table

Often termed as the “WhatsApp for Education”, Admission Table lets prospective students connect with counselors, and get help for admissions. Admission Table was founded by Manish Katyan, Deepak Iyer, and Duleep Deosthale.

Altizon

Altizon is an Internet of Things (IoT) startup which focuses on modernizing the field of industrial equipment. Altizon adds technology to industrial equipment which lets it collect and analyze data. The market is tough, but Altizon managed to raise $4 million in the beginning of 2016 in Series A funding round.

Aureus Analytics

Big data is big nowadays. Aureus takes big data from banks and insurance companies and helps them analyze it. It was founded by Anurag Shah, Ashish Tanna, and Nitin Purohit.

Also Read: Kickstart Jobs Gets Seed Funded

BabyChakra

With all this information available freely on the Internet, it is often difficult to separate the real helpful bits from the chaff. BabyChakra helps you take decisions regarding your child in an informed way. It covers things which parents usually get to know through word of mouth, like information about hospitals, schools, toys, etc. Its founders are Mohit Kumar and Naiyya Saggi.

Bizom

Bizom helps in the management and tracking of sales teams for small and medium businesses. It helps businesses to analyze their team behavior and increase efficiency. It is mostly targeted at small businesses in India. It was founded by Lalit Bhise and Supreeth Reddy.

Locus

Locus offers technology for automation of delivery services of companies. It works by providing a mobile app with GPS trackers for tracking the employees, and they can chat about it too. This logistics startup aims to help the e-commerce industry in India. It was founded by Nishith Rastogi and Geet Garg.

Report Bee

Another startup focused on children and students, Report Bee helps measure the performance of schools and students on the basis of various metrics. Education technology is touted as one of the hottest sectors for growth in 2016, and thus various models are coming into the market. Report Bee was founded by Anantharaman Mani, Anjan T, Balaganesh S and Vinod Kumar.

Reverie

Reverie is a language-as-a-service platform. It offers real-time translations from other websites. Reverie is different because it is more “localized” and can also translate slang. Arvind Pani, Vivek Pani, and S. K. Mohanty founded Reverie.

These startups were chosen by MV because of the uniqueness of their business model and the value they could create. These startups were already hard at work by themselves before they were accepted by Microsoft, but with Microsoft’s help, they have come a long way ahead.

Also Read: Social Media Helps in Funding Startups. Know about it now

It would be great if you share your thoughts with us by commenting in the boxes below.
Subscribe with us to get your dose of interesting news, research & opinions in the startup segment. Fill the form below:

[email-subscribers namefield=”YES” desc=”” group=”Public”]