ISRO And Microsoft Collaborate To Fuel Growth Of Space-Tech Startups In India

ISRO and Microsoft signed an MoU on January 5, 2023, to fuel the growth of Indian space-tech startups and empower them with technology tools and platforms, mentoring and go-to-market support.

The space-tech startups that have been identified by ISRO will be boarded onto the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub platform, as part of the collaboration.

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Microsoft have collaborated to support space-tech startups in India. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, January 5, 2023, to fuel the growth of Indian space-tech startups and empower them with technology tools and platforms, mentoring and go-to-market support. This will help them scale up and become enterprise ready. 

What is the aim of the collaboration?

The aim of the collaboration is to strengthen ISRO's vision of harnessing the market potential of the most promising space tech innovators and entrepreneurs in India, a statement released by Microsoft says. The space-tech startups that have been identified by ISRO will be boarded onto the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub platform, as part of the collaboration. This platform supports startups and entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey, from idea to unicorn, and provides them with technology and tools. 

Indian Space Congress 2022 and Microsoft’s partnership

In October 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the 'iDEX 75 Space Challenges' during the Defence Expo, to encourage and promote space-tech startups. Engaging with this initiative, the Indian Space Congress 2022 (ISC 2022), in October, partnered with Microsoft to extend the benefits of Founders Hub to 15 shortlisted startups. 

How will the Founders Hub Programme benefit startups?

As part of the Founders Hub programme, the 15 selected startups can avail up to $1,50,000 worth of free Azure credits. Azure is Microsoft's public cloud computing platform that provides a broad range of cloud services including computing, analytics and networking. 

As part of the Microsoft for Founders Hub programme, space-tech startup founders in India will have free access to the tech tools and resources they need to build and run their business,  including technical support to build and scale on Azure, access to smart analytics, and developer and productivity tools including GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise and Microsoft 365. 

GitHub Enterprise is a self-hosted platform for software development that one can host within a private environment, such as an enterprise. Visual Studio Enterprise is an integrated development environment from Microsoft, and is used to develop computer programs including websites, web applications, web services and mobile apps. 

Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub will provide startups access to smart analytics with Power BI, a platform used to find insights within an organisation's data, and is a collection of software services and apps, and Dynamics 365, a portfolio of intelligent business applications that delivers superior operational efficiency and breakthrough customer experiences.

At the second session of ISC 2022 held on October 27, five finalists of space tech startups pitched their ideas to industry leaders and investors. These startups include Blue Sky Analytics, Vellon Space, Delta-V Robotics, Astrogate Labs and GeneX Space. They presented their pitches at the 'Pitch Right for Skyrocketing Startups' session. The startups will get the opportunity to enrol in a specially curated mentorship engagement with senior executives of leading companies.

What ISRO Chairman says about the collaboration?

Quoting ISRO Chairman S Somanath, the Microsoft statement said ISRO's collaboration with Microsoft will greatly benefit space-tech startups in their analysis and processing of vast amounts of satellite data for various applications, using "cutting-edge" methods like AI, machine learning and deep learning. He added that the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a useful platform for bringing together startups and providers of technology solutions to support the national space technology ecosystem.

How the collaboration will benefit space-tech startups

Microsoft will not only provide access to technology, but will also provide mentoring support to space-tech entrepreneurs in areas ranging from space engineering to cloud technologies, product and design, fundraising and sales and marketing, the statement says. 

Also, founders will have access to Microsoft Learn, a platform which will provide them with training content and programs to help them build connections with the industry and potential customers. 

Together, ISRO and Microsoft will organise knowledge sharing and thought leadership sessions for the startups with space industry experts, and support founders with opportunities to sell their solutions through Microsoft channels.