Asia Pacific, October 2020 – Microsoft for Startups launches the Highway to a 100 Unicorns initiative in the Asia Pacific to strengthen the region’s startup ecosystem. This follows the initiative’s success in India, where only 56 startups were selected to the Emerge X program from six states, which have over 15000+ startups. The Emerge X winners have greatly benefited with global market access support, a 3-day founder bootcamp with world-class mentors, access to funding, ongoing mentorship, and guidance on Azure, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more.
Innovation
is critical to unlocking inclusive economic growth in the Asia Pacific;
high-income economies in the region invest three times more in research and
development as compared to their peers. To spur innovative entrepreneurship,
Microsoft will work closely with governments and industry partners to discover
and nurture technology startups with a high potential to become truly global enterprises
in the future.
Andres
Ortola, country general manager, Microsoft Philippines said, “Startups play a vital role in our economy as innovators, disruptors and
first-movers. Through Highway to a 100 Unicorns, we will enable startups in the Philippines and the APAC region so they can have a real impact in their markets
and drive digital innovation in the region. We look forward to walking with
more founders along their growth journey and supporting them to scale and
achieve more.”
Emerge
X Competition
Innovators
and entrepreneurs from a total of 16 countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand,
Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) are invited to be a part
of the Highway to a 100 Unicorns initiative.
To be
considered, startups will first have to submit an application for Emerge X
competitions in their countries. Criteria for startups to apply for Emerge X is
as follows:
1.
Business-to-Business companies with the product-market fit, revenue
generating with at least 3-4 clients.
2.
Business-to-Customer companies with a large customer base
(upward of 100K customers) and are revenue-generating.
3.
Funding is a plus.
All Emerge X startups will be awarded free GitHub and Azure credits and focused business and technology workshops. Three finalists per country will be announced in November. They will additionally benefit from a year-long mentorship with technical and business deep dives, a Founder Bootcamp over 3 days, access to enterprise clients globally through Microsoft’s unique co-sell program as well as opportunities to interact with Microsoft experts and industry stalwarts.
Information
Webinars for Interested Startups
Date
and Time:
• October 14th, 10:30 – 11:30 AM SGT
• October 14th, 4:30 – 5:30 PM SGT
• October 15th, 10:30 – 11:30 AM SGT
• October 15th, 12:30 – 1:30 PM SGT
Link to
register: Highway to 100
Unicorns Web Registration
APPLY for the Emerge X competition:
•
Submit an application on GrowthEnabler: https://aka.ms/highway
• Startups must bring their GrowthEnabler profile to 80% to be
considered
• Applications close on 31 October 2020
• For any support, please contact v-kashe@microsoft.com
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