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Startups are at the forefront of the innovation revolution in India. The year has started on a high for the startup ecosystem; India is producing a Unicorn once every five days^[1]. India is now home to a total of 88 Unicorns and their cumulative valuation is pegged at more than $295.99 billion^[2]. 

The tailwinds are stronger than ever to go big. Riding this success wave of tech intensity is the key to unlocking sustainable growth. And ecosystem partnerships are imperative to enable the next phase of innovation and disruption.

More than a developer’s paradise

From ERP solutions to developer productivity solutions like GitHub, Microsoft is a developer’s paradise as it offers a wide portfolio of offerings that can serve as the tech fabric and backbone for every enterprise. 

As platform offerings, tech innovators have the liberty to extend, enhance, and build on these platforms. Additionally, Microsoft offers various programs for startups depending on the stage of their journey. Startups can benefit from partnerships programs for global expansion from the ISV Program that brings the scale and breadth of the Microsoft sales teams to sell to businesses across the globe. Industry-specific capabilities are the key to accelerate innovation – and Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help move industries forward. Our industry cloud offerings bring together industry-specific customizations with our entire stack to help customers improve time to value, increase agility, and lower costs.

At the crossroads of technology and industry

In one of his recent remarks, Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said, “Digital technology is the most malleable resource at the world’s disposal to overcome constraints and reimagine everyday work and life.” Emerging technologies like AI and ML are helping build truly differentiated outcomes for everyone. India has the third largest AI startup ecosystem in the world, and AI adoption is estimated to add $957 billion to the Indian economy by 2035^[3].

Startups are tech disruptors and among the foremost users of emerging technologies like AI/ML. Microsoft’s vision is to help every startup in every industry turn meaningful innovation into actionable results. In 2021, Microsoft AI Innovate was launched to support the ecosystem with the right programs, tools, and skilling resources. The program is aimed to strengthen startups for meaningful innovation as they scale, by helping them build business and industry expertise in AI, offering opportunities to work with Microsoft’s industry, research and engineering experts, future-proofing them with the right skills, and providing mentorship from both Microsoft and industry leaders.

Future-proofing startups

Trusted partnerships for innovation and growth are integral to Microsoft’s DNA, in order to deliver greater impact for customers, partners, governments, developers, students and society at large. 

Startup partnerships enable Microsoft to provide an end-to-end tech solution to its customers, built, tested, and made secure on the Microsoft platform, and most importantly, support the startup in its journey of scale and growth. 

To top this up, there are the obvious intangibles like years of expertise and experience, the passionate energy of an erstwhile startup, the relentless focus on security, and privacy, and the massive reach of the Microsoft ecosystem of customers and partners that adds to the value proposition. 

Supporting the pace and depth of innovation in the current Indian startup ecosystem with its tech and business partnerships, Microsoft is committed to helping every startup in the country achieve more.

_{1. https://www.news18.com/news/business/india-has-created-a-unicorn-every-five-days-in-2022-so-far-says-piyush-goyal-4764953.html ↑}

_{2. https://www.investindia.gov.in/indian-unicorn-landscape ↑}

_{3. https://vicepresidentofindia.nic.in/speechesinterviews/address-shri-m-venkaiah-naidu-honourable-vice-president-iit-jodhpur-september-28#:~:text=and%20connected%20systems.-,Sisters%20and%20brothers%2C,of%20millions%20of%20routine%20jobs. ↑}