Microsoft and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced a collaboration on Thursday (January 5) to accelerate the growth of spacetech startups in India.
The Washington-based company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ISRO to provide technology tools and platforms, go-to-market support, and mentoring to spacetech startups across India, allowing them to scale and become enterprise-ready.
The collaboration comes at a time when India is seeing promising developments in the spacetech sector, aided by various government-led initiatives, and more startups are emerging. Around 60 startups were registered with ISRO in mid-2022, with over 100 spacetech startups active in the country.
According to Microsoft, as a result of the collaboration, spacetech startup founders in India will now have free access to various tech tools and resources for their business operations via the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.
Technical support to build and scale on Azure, best-in-class developer and productivity tools such as GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise, and Microsoft 365, and access to smart analytics with Power BI and Dynamics 365 are among the resources available.
“ISRO’s collaboration with Microsoft will greatly benefit space tech startups in their analysis and processing of vast amounts of satellite data for various applications,” ISRO Chairman S Somanath said. “The Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a valuable platform for connecting startups and technology solution providers to support the national space technology ecosystem.”
In addition to providing access to technology, Microsoft will mentor spacetech entrepreneurs in areas such as space engineering, cloud technologies, product and design, fundraising, and sales and marketing. Founders will also have access to Microsoft Learn, which will provide them with tailored startup-centric training content and programmes to help them connect with the industry and potential customers.
