Microsoft partners up with Y Combinator to help startups find their feet

Microsoft has today announced that it is partnering up with startup accelerator Y Combinator with hopes to inspire and help new startups innovate.

Y Combinator works by pouring funding and resources into startups to help them get off their feet in what can be very challenging times. In exchange the company takes a small stake in the startup. Y Combinator would usually take a handful of startups under its wings and focus on them for a set period of time. The partnership with Microsoft will see the software giant also providing support to the startups, which would include giving them $500,000 in Microsoft Azure credit, three years of Office 365, in addition to direct access to the company’s engineering teams which would bring a lot of industry experience and expertise to the table.

“Partnering with Y Combinator is both an extension of our commitment to startups, as well as an expression of Microsoft’s culture and values to add greater value through partnering, than by going it alone. We continue to invest in the Startup ecosystem and to look for opportunities to foster innovation around the world, both directly and through our partners.” – Microsoft

Microsoft has been committed to aiding startups for a while now under its BizSpark program which was first established in 2008. The program provides startups free access to Windows Azure and powerful tools like Office, Visual Studio and SQL Server which can be unaffordable to small startups.

“It is our hope and intention that this partnership will support these startups in defining and scaling their businesses, focusing upon innovation and developing differentiated products” – Steve Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President of Developer Platform & Evangelism, Microsoft

The partnership with Y Combinator might also give Microsoft insight into startups worth acquiring as the company is constantly seeking out new ways to improve its existing products as well as innovate and venture into new and exciting market territories.