Microsoft is extending its Startup Founders Hub platform with the new Pegasus Program, an incubator that grants startups with promising products up to $350,000 in Azure, GitHub, and LinkedIn credits. It also provides advisory support and access to the best of Microsoft’s technology.
Hans Yang, general manager at Microsoft for Startups, made the announcement and stated that today’s launch of Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program is perfectly timed. Startups are challenged with complicated sales cycles, detailed regulations, and high demands for scalability and reliability. But Pegasus will give them a chance to grow and stay on top of the current economic climate.
Pegasus is a two-year program open to startups active in the Microsoft Founders Hub and building products with the Microsoft Cloud. The program focuses on startups that demonstrate early product-market-fit, such as revenue traction, a sales team in place, and a proven go-to-market model. This means that businesses seeking to invest in the Pegasus Program are assured of a short-term return on investment.
All selected startups within Pegasus are assigned a vertical lead to facilitate sales opportunities, an account manager to nurture the startup’s market success, and a personal cloud solution architect who works with the startup’s team and provides them with the Microsoft Azure AI technology.
Microsoft has proclaimed that the Pegasus Program is currently in private preview, and has already supplied more than 100 startups with over $35 million of tech credits in the process. These include startups selling in industries like healthcare, AI, retail, and cybersecurity, with Yang mentioning generative AI in particular as a space of excitement.
Microsoft further back innovative business with its ISV Success Program, an endeavor focused on helping early-stage software companies publish apps. The firm has also affirmed its ambition of investing in 10,000 companies across Africa over the following five years.
Hans Yang is the general manager at Microsoft for Startups. Previously he’s served at executive roles in business development and product where he’s worked on various projects including Windows 10, Windows 365 and many other projects. He’s a native of China and has worked in multiple global technology companies, from startups to giants like Microsoft. At Microsoft, he’s worked on several projects around the emerging markets. His knowledge and experience extend to technology and business, areas he’s passionate to drive growth.
