Microsoft's new program to support healthtech startups in India

Microsoft on Thursday announced the launch of a new dedicated program to help Indian healthtech startups scale with advanced technology and joint go-to-market support.

"The Microsoft for Healthtech Startups program deepens our focus on specific industries and is aimed to accelerate the growth journeys of startups with the best tech enablement and business resources," said Sangeeta Bavi, Director, Startup Ecosystem, Microsoft India.

The Microsoft for HealthTech Startups program aims to help entrepreneurs with technical support as well as resources for co-selling and co-building tech tools to achieve better outcomes across healthcare. The program has three tiers:

1. All startups - Qualified Seed to Series C startups can boost their business with Azure benefits, unlimited technical support and go-to-market resources with support for Azure Marketplace onboarding
2. Co-sell startups - Startups with enterprise-ready solutions can scale quickly with joint go-to-market strategies, technical support and new sales opportunities with Microsoft's partner ecosystem
3. Co-build startups - Startups that are looking to create healthcare solutions have access to Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, the first industry-specific cloud that brings together trusted and integrated capabilities to enrich patient engagement and connects teams for improved collaboration, decision-making, and operational efficiencies

To support the participating healthtech startups, Microsoft is collaborating with Social Alpha, a multistage incubation cum investment platform for science and technology start-ups. The partnership will provide healthtech startups programmatic support via product innovation labs, sandbox pilots and structured incubation initiatives.

Social Alpha has supported over 20 healthtech startups working across devices, diagnostics, treatment, access and quality/UX. The platform supports entrepreneurs and innovators that enable social, economic and environmental change through their "lab to market" journey by building access to technology and business incubation initiatives.

Commenting on the partnership, Manoj Kumar, Founder and Chairperson of Social Alpha, "Our partnership with Microsoft for HealthTech Startups will focus on enabling these companies fastrack their progress with some of the best technology resources and accelerate their innovation pathways."