Microsoft partners with Indian space agency to work with startups

Microsoft plans to work with India's space agency to give Indian space tech startups free access to cloud tools, the two announced on Thursday, the latest in attempts by the American tech giant to deepen its ties with young people. companies in the South Asian market.

As part of a memorandum of understanding Microsoft signed with the Indian Space Research Organization, the company will also provide space tech startups with go-to-market support and help them prepare for company, he said.

Startups hand-picked by ISRO will be onboarded to the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, where they will receive free access to several tools and resources. These tools include help building and scaling on Azure, as well as GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise, Microsoft 365, Power BI, and Dynamics 365.

"ISRO's collaboration with Microsoft will greatly benefit space technology startups in their analysis and processing of large amounts of satellite data for various applications, using state-of-the-art methods such as AI, machine learning machine and deep learning," said S Somanath, president of ISRO, in a statement.

"The Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a helpful platform to bring together startups and technology solution providers to support the national space technology ecosystem. We are excited to work together to help and support entrepreneurs, at benefit the Indian economy as a whole."

Indian space tech startups are having a moment.

In June 2020, the Indian government passed the space sector reforms and established the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe) to enable private companies to use the space infrastructure of ISRO. The government has also established NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) as a commercial arm of the space agency to work closely with private companies and startups.

In November last year, ISRO successfully launched the Vikram-S after much anticipation to give a boost to the private sector. The Vikram-S, developed by four-year-old start-up Skyroot Aerospace, is a single-stage, spin-stabilized solid-propellant rocket with a mass of around 550 kilograms. It carries three client payloads, including one from a client outside India.

The South Asian nation has 111 space startups registered on the In-SPACe platform, according to an official response shared in the country's upper house of parliament in December.

While startups such as Skyroot Aerospace, backed by GIC, and Agnikul, invested by Rocketship.vc, are developing launch vehicles, Pixxel, backed by Blume Ventures and Lightspeed Partners, and ANIC-ARISE and Digantara, invested by Kalaari Capital , build satellites.

Indian space startups have raised over $245.35 million, with $108.52 million infused in 2022 alone, according to data shared by the Indian Space Association (ISpA) with TechCrunch.

Microsoft has made many announcements in India this week as Chief Executive Satya Nadella heads to the South Asian market. The company said earlier this week that HDFC Bank and Yes Bank have signed up to use Azure and other Microsoft cloud services.