When people think of the Big Apple, “startups”, “tech” and “innovation” probably aren’t the first words that come to mind. Here at Microsoft New York, however, we think this needs to change, and one way we’re making that happen is by teaming up with Grand Central Tech (GCT), one of the most interesting tech accelerators anywhere.
What makes GCT different from other tech accelerators? We love how deeply integrated the program is with the city’s needs, including a focus on community, diversity and education. A majority of the founding members in the inaugural class are women, people of color or veterans and GCT partners with a number of local high schools to get recent graduates to intern at its companies—as big supporters of STEM education, we love this. Additionally, GCT doesn’t charge its startups rent or take equity—all GCT asks is that members act as good corporate citizens and commit to building an enduring tech community.
Having been so impressed with its innovative approach, we were happy to make GCT an authorized partner that can offer BizSpark Plus to its startups, worth up to $60,000 in free Azure cloud services for a year. And as a sponsor, we’ll be supporting GCT in a number of ways, including mentorships, workshops and a lot more—but mostly we’re excited to get to meet so many amazing people who are working to make the world a better place through technology. For additional info on this partnership and what it means for New York, check out GCT’s press release and blog post.