Microsoft Ventures in India today announced the graduation of 17 technology startups as part of its Accelerator program. The announcement came at an event held in Bangalore today that saw an audience of over 800 mentors, industry influencers, venture capitalists, angel investors, and journalists.
The Demo Day event also saw the announcement of Think Next, Microsoft Venture’s new initiative to boost the startup ecosystem of India.
A semi-annual conclave, Think Next aims at providing a forum for all stakeholders to network, deliberate, and take measurable steps that will help spur the growth of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
As part of the inaugural Think Next 2014, two roundtables - Understanding Trends in Corporate Development and How to Create SAAS models from India - were organized. Going forward, Microsoft Ventures will be partnering with several industry bodies like NASSCOM, TiE Chapters around the country, and iSPIRT for Think Next. The roundtables today were organized in association with iSPIRT.
Over the course of the last two years, Microsoft Ventures has emerged as a key player in the Indian startup ecosystem, working closely by pooling its resources with other accelerators, incubators and industry bodies, with the single objective of helping startups. While each of us are putting in a lot of efforts, many of these are fragmented and don’t have the potential of making a significant impact. We felt the need for a forum which brings together all the stakeholders and provides them with a platform to discuss current initiatives, decide on actionable follow-up steps and measure the progress over a period of time. Think Next is that forum, and we are confident it will provide a strong boost to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.”- Ravi Narayan, Director, Microsoft Ventures in India
Microsoft Ventures is a global initiative to help entrepreneurs build great companies working with startups at every stage of maturity to provide the tools, resources, and expertise they need to succeed. The initiative is broad-based, and includes a community program, accelerators, and a seed fund. The initiative helps startups scale their business, bring innovative services to market, and reach new customers.
