Breaking into the enterprise market is challenging for most startups. The sales cycle is lengthy, regulatory compliance is daunting, and ensuring that your product can handle the scale and reliability that enterprise buyers demand can be tough. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that brings together people, knowledge, and benefits to help founders at every stage solve startup challenges. The platform requires no funding and enables startups to sign up in minutes with an idea.
Introducing the Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program, an extension of the Founders Hub platform that connects growth-stage startups to thousands of Microsoft’s top customers. The program provides startups additional support by driving top-line revenue for those that have already achieved product-market fit in industries like AI, health and life sciences, cybersecurity, and retail. The program acts as a matchmaker, identifying enterprise customers with business challenges and connecting them with the right startup solutions.
The Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program in Action
In pilot, the program has already helped over a hundred startups land enterprise customers, with an average deal size of $350,000. Commerce.AI founder and CEO, Andy Pandharikar, said, “Many startups struggle when it comes to enterprise sales. Working with Microsoft for Startups helps us understand how enterprise customers look at and purchase new innovative products, and through this program, we have been able to close nearly $1 million in deals.”
The program is currently invite-only, and Microsoft selects startups from their Founders Hub community that are building with Microsoft technology. The program provides startups with an opportunity generation, go-to-market support, and access to Microsoft technology.
Opportunity Generation
All startups chosen for the program receive support from industry experts who will help generate sales opportunities in their sector and act as a trusted advisor. This support provides startups with the necessary knowledge and connections to navigate the complex enterprise market.
Go-to-Market Support
Startups will work with go-to-market experts from Microsoft to ensure they have the best resources for generating and developing deals. These experts provide startups with a wealth of experience and knowledge to help them close deals with enterprise customers.
Access to Microsoft Technology
Startups will get a dedicated Cloud Solution Architect (CSA) supporting their technical success, preferred access to Azure’s AI offerings, and up to $350,000 in technology credits spanning Azure (including Azure OpenAI Service), GitHub, and LinkedIn. CSAs serve as a single point of contact for startups to ensure they are technically prepared to engage with enterprise customers, facilitate compliance and security checks, and advise on architecture.
Empowering Startups to Accelerate Growth
Geof Hannigan, Executive Director & Principal Scientist at Merck, said, “At Merck, we seek innovation in digital life sciences technologies. Working with enterprise-ready startups like those in the Pegasus Program is important to develop digital-enabling technologies that can advance drug discovery and development.” At Microsoft, the goal is to empower every person and organization to do more, and the Pegasus Program is an exciting way to help startups accelerate growth.
For more information on the Pegasus Program, please visit: Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program
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