Microsoft to offer $120,000 worth of free Azure cloud services to Indian startups

Microsoft has launched the BizSpark Plus programme for startups in India. As part of this programme, the company will offer $120,000 per year of free Azure Cloud services to each of the qualified startups. The startups can use $10,000 worth of credits monthly, to invest in Microsoft services to power their business. The programme provides free software, developer tools, and technical support to help startups be successful.  In addition to Azure services, startups will receive the full suite of development and test software and tools such as Visual Studio, Windows and Office. [caption id=“attachment_2010519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Microsoft is partnering with 13 startup accelerators, including 91Springboard, Reliance GenNext, Zone Startups and Pitney Bowes among others, to roll out this programme in the country. Globally, Microsoft is partnering with 150 startup accelerators in 47 countries to deploy this programme. Rajinish Menon, director, Microsoft Ventures India, said, “Startups need all the help they can to get access to the right tools, technology and guidance. At Microsoft, we are committed to supporting these startups and through the BizSpark Plus programme we want to support India’s upcoming entrepreneurs and the government’s Digital India vision. We aim to help early stage companies accelerate innovation and deliver their product to customers as quickly as possible." To qualify for the BizSpark Plus programme, startups must be privately held; less than 5 years old; have a less than $1 miilion revenue annually and be member of a select Accelerator or VC firm. In India, the programme has limited seats for other startups as well.