New Delhi: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Microsoft signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost Indian space tech start-ups with technology tools, go-to-market support and mentoring to assist them scale and become business ready.
This comes when the Indian space tech start-up ecosystem sees a lot of activity. 2022 was a historic year for the ecosystem, apart from many satellite launches country recorded its first private rocket launch. The new year also began with Bengaluru-based space tech company Digantara launching their satellite aboard a Space X rocket.
With this tie-up, ISRO’s identified space tech startups will be onboarded onto the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, a platform that support start-ups at every stage. Through Startups Founders Hub, India’s space-tech startup founders will have free access to the reasources and tech-tools they need to build and run their businesses, said Microsoft in a statement. This includes access to developer and productivity tools like GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise and Microsoft 365, technical support for building and scaling on Azure, and access to smart analytics with Power BI and Dynamics 365.
Beyond access to technology, Microsoft will offer mentoring support to space tech startups in areas ranging from space engineering to cloud technologies, fundraising and sales and marketing, product and design. Additionally, founders will have access to Microsoft Learn for tailored startup-centric training content and programs to assist them build connections with the industry and potential customers.
This collaboration will give opportunities to startup founders to sell their solutions via Microsoft channels and the marketplace. With addition to this they organise knowledge-sharing and thought leadership sessions for the startups with space industry experts.
ISRO’s Chairman, S Somanath, said, “The collaboration will highly benefit to early-stage space tech startups as they analyse and process massive amounts of satellite data for variety of applications, utilising cutting-edge methods like AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning.”
“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,” he further added.
Anant Maheshwari, President of Microsoft India, said, “Space tech startups in India are playing a huge role in improving the country’s space capabilities using the power of technology.”
