Microsoft has recently announced the launch of a programme for agritech startups in India that are committed to drive transformation in agriculture. The Microsoft for Agritech Startups program is designed to help start-ups build industry-specific solutions, scale and grow with access to deep technology, business and marketing resources.
Agritech start-ups in India are transforming agriculture by developing innovative digital solutions to maximise productivity, improve market linkages, increase supply chain efficiency and provide greater access to inputs for agribusinesses. In its efforts to bolster the India’s start-up ecosystem, this programme offers the best-in-class tech and business enablement resources to help agritech start-ups innovate and scale fast. Start-ups can also get access to Azure FarmBeats, which can help them focus on core value-adds instead of the undifferentiated heavy lifting of data engineering. Available on the Azure Marketplace, Azure FarmBeats enables aggregation of agricultural datasets across providers and generation of actionable insights by building Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models based on fused datasets.
“Sustainable agricultural technology can transform the global food landscape. Agritech start-up innovations are addressing some of our key challenges connected to agriculture and food production. The Microsoft for Agritech Startups programme is among the early steps in our journey towards empowering these start-ups in India and transforming global agricultural practices,” said Sangeeta Bavi, Director, Startup Ecosystem, Microsoft India.
Spread across three tiers, the programme offers a range of benefits, including tech enablement and business resources:
- All start-ups: Qualified Seed to Series C start-ups can boost their businesses with Azure benefits (including free credits), unlimited technical support and help with Azure Marketplace onboarding
- Co-sell start-ups: Start-ups with enterprise-ready solutions can scale quickly with joint go-to-market strategies, technical support and new sales opportunities with Microsoft’s partner ecosystem
- Co-create solutions: Start-ups that are looking to create digital agriculture solutions have the opportunity to co-build customised solutions with Azure FarmBeats without investing in deep data engineering resources. Using Azure FarmBeats, start-ups can acquire, aggregate and process agricultural data and rapidly develop their own AI/ML models
Bringing together start-ups, corporates, industry bodies, governments and venture capital firms, the programme aims to create a shared platform for learning and innovation. With its strong focus on start-ups, advanced technology resources and a rapidly growing partner ecosystem, Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help agritech start-ups build solutions, scale across global markets, and grow with industry-leading partnerships.
