Microsoft Innovation Center Pre-Accelerator Program

Announcing the MIC Pre-Accelerator Program!

A group of Microsoft Innovation Centers (MIC) will be linked by a unique startup training program, connecting entrepreneurs to resources and support they need in validating and building their ideas into solutions. The MICs in Karachi, Pakistan, Kathmandu, Nepal, Santiago, Chile, and Yerevan, Armenia are recruiting early stage teams to join the MIC Pre-Accelerator Program for an intensive 12-week journey to go from concept through customer acquisition. Applications will be accepted between Monday, December 1^st and Monday, December 29^th and the program will start the first week of February, 2015. Each week the selected teams will go through specialized training and have access and support from the international community. The program will culminate in the MIC DEMO WEEK during the last week in April, where a global audience will witness the product demonstrations and startups will receive feedback from experts in each of the partner countries. Click here to learn more!

To apply, please choose your location:

Armenia: http://apply.venturehive.co/mic-armenia

Chile: http://apply.venturehive.co/mic-santiago

Nepal: http://apply.venturehive.co/mic-nepal

Pakistan: http://apply.venturehive.co/mic-karachi

The Benefits

The MIC Pre-Accelerator Program is founder-friendly:

• NO equity taken in your company!
• Focus is on building great entrepreneurs who can execute of big ideas
• A top-notch curriculum of highly practical workshops and training sessions
• Access to the collaborative working space in the MIC office
• Mentoring from a vetted network of local, national and international entrepreneurs and experts
• Exposure to qualified investors
• A demo week celebration
• And more awesome surprises…

The Teams

The MIC Pre-Accelerator Program focuses on individual development. We want you to succeed so we established some guidelines based on what has worked with our companies:

• We are seeking teams of 2 to 4 founders with complementary skills (business AND technical, design a plus)
• Teams must be committed to working together through the 12-week program a minimum of 40 hours a week – even the part-time programs will require 25+ hours of work outside of meeting times
• Founding team members must speak English

We place a great deal of importance on the team, how solid they are and their ability to be coached and to take feedback.

The Business

The MIC Pre-Accelerator supports big, disrupt-the-industry visions:

• The concept should be an innovative web or mobile technology solution that addresses a clear market need – both in your country and the region, at a minimum
• The business is still in the idea phase, you may be doing some research and speaking with customers but you are still defining your value proposition
• The company should still be pre-revenue
• Having some form of an intellectual property (patents, trademarks) opportunity is a plus but not a requirement

Your MIC Pre-Accelerator experience will be focused on validating your concept, building your MVP, and developing the roadmap for execution. To learn more and apply, click here.

Timeline:

Tuesday, December 2^nd, 2014: Applications open

Monday, December 29^th, 2014 at 11:59 pm: Applications due

Friday, January 16^th, 2015: Selected teams will be notified

Monday, February 2^nd, 2015: Program begins

April 26^th, 2015: MIC DEMO WEEK