INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
As Indian startups begin to make inroads in the world of SaaS, Microsoft has taken notice
The American tech giant today launched 100X100X100, a program aimed at business-to-business SaaS startups.
Microsoft said Monday that
100X100X100 will bring together 100 companies and 100 early and growth startups
Each committed company will spend $100,000 over a course of 18 months.
&This initiative will help build scale and create amazing
opportunities for startups
Businesses can now fast-track their digital journeys through easy adoption of enterprise-grade solutions,& said Anant Maheshwari, President
of Microsoft India, in a statement.
Each startup participating in the program will also have access to prospective customers at Microsoft
industry and customer events
Participants also get access to Microsoft technology platform, and guidance in fine tuning their business and expansion models.
Microsoft is
not a new face in India startup ecosystem
The company runs Microsoft for Startups that allows early stage B2B startups to use the company Azure marketplace and enterprise sales team
Early last year, the company also expanded M12, its corporate venture fund, to India.
The company global rivals Google and Amazon are also
actively helping startups in India, sponsoring countless events and bandying out a range of goodies including thousands of dollars of credit
to use their cloud platforms.
India Reliance Jio inks deal with Microsoft to expand Office 365, Azure to more businesses; unveils
broadband, blockchain and IoT platforms
The idea is simple: If the bets work, these startups are already a customer and their solutions
could be beneficial to several tens of thousands of other customers
And it a safe time to make these bets.
In recent years, scores of startups have emerged in India to build SaaS software following the
success of firms such as Freshworks, valued at $3.5 billion, and CleverTap
Since SaaS startups are not building hardware, or disbursing loans, they often have the best profit margin.
Shekhar Kirani, a partner at
Accel, told TechCrunch in a recent interview that his biggest frustration was not seeing many more entrepreneurs build SaaS services
&Anyone with some coding skills and a cheap laptop can build a service and sell to the world,& he said.
At a recent SaaS focused event,
Godard Abel, chief executive of business marketplace G2, said that India was already among the top five nations for active participations
for development of new business services.
As for Microsoft, expect several more announcements this week as its chief executive, Satya
Nadella, appears at company flagship conference in the country today and tomorrow.
