Microsoft: Startups Grow More Active in Russian Regions (and Yekaterinburg)
28 February 2012 (09:18)
Microsoft Corporation is going to launch a micro-grant (up to $10,000) program for IT startups in 2012, CEO Microsoft Rus Strategic Technologies Department’s Seed Financing Fund Gaidar Magdanurov told RIA Novosti.
‘We intend to issue grants to finance a hundred projects over the next decade; last year, we offered grants to eight projects, and two grants have been issued since the beginning of the year; these amount to $40,000 and $50,000. This year we’ll also start offering micro-grants of up to $10,000, there will be at least six of those,’ he said.
Magdanurov explained the company was planning to invest preferably in cloud platforms and mobile apps development.
He pointed out that the company was currently faced with lack of great activity on the part of the startups.
‘What we look at is whether the company can go through with a project from prototype to the end product. There are few such businesses, only about two hundred, perhaps. What is more, the startups in big cities haven’t been so active recently. We actually get more applications from the regional cities like Kazan, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg,’ he noted.
‘We intend to issue grants to finance a hundred projects over the next decade; last year, we offered grants to eight projects, and two grants have been issued since the beginning of the year; these amount to $40,000 and $50,000. This year we’ll also start offering micro-grants of up to $10,000, there will be at least six of those,’ he said.
Magdanurov explained the company was planning to invest preferably in cloud platforms and mobile apps development.
He pointed out that the company was currently faced with lack of great activity on the part of the startups.
‘What we look at is whether the company can go through with a project from prototype to the end product. There are few such businesses, only about two hundred, perhaps. What is more, the startups in big cities haven’t been so active recently. We actually get more applications from the regional cities like Kazan, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg,’ he noted.
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