Microsoft has launched a support scheme for Indian agtech start-ups, to help them build industry-specific solutions, scale, and grow with access to deep technology, business, and marketing resources.
The program is named ‘Microsoft for Agritech Startups’ and will offer a range of tech and business tools to early-stage Indian companies operating in the space. The program is split into three tiers, each catering to start-ups at different stages of growth.
All participating companies from seed to Series C stage will be able to get beneficial access to Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform, including free credits, technical support, and help with onboarding to the Azure Marketplace, where they can both buy services from, and offer their own to, other Azure network partners.
They’ll also be able to use Azure FarmBeats – which Microsoft unveiled late last year – which brings together agricultural datapoints from sensors, drones, satellite imagery, and multiple other sources, and uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to turn them into actionable insights. AzureBeats industry partners include drone manufacturers DJI and SenseFly, ag robot developer EarthSense, and sensor maker Teralytic, and it counts the likes of the US Department of Agriculture among its customers.
Startups looking to develop new, customized solutions will be able to use Azure FarmBeats to obtain and analyze agricultural data and build their own models, without the timeframe, cost, and other resources required to collect their own datasets.
Microsoft isn’t the only major tech company reaching out to India’s agtech startups at this time. In April, IBM began offering 30-day free trials to its Operations Dashboard, a weather-monitoring tool for farmers and agtech startups.
Source: agfundernews.com
