Microsoft Ventures, Deshpande Foundation in pact for incubators in small cities

Microsoft Ventures and Deshpande Foundation, founded by philanthropist Gururaj Deshpande, have entered into a three-year partnership to launch 'Sandbox Startups', an incubator to nurture technology startups in tier two and three cities of India.

The incubator is aimed at providing a launch pad for aspiring entrepreneurs in smaller cities by validating their business ideas, helping them sharpen their business acumen, develop products and launch solutions.

"As the culture of innovation spreads, it's fascinating to see the kind of problems that startups from smaller towns are trying to solve," Rajinish Menon, director at Microsoft Ventures in India said. "At Microsoft, we are extremely excited to help incubators roll out products and raise capital to fund their growth, eventually benefiting India's budding entrepreneurial ecosystem."

Deshpande Foundation, which has operations in India, Canada and the US, is focused on building an ecosystem to nurture innovative social entrepreneurs in India. The foundation actively nurtures entrepreneur through several programs in North Karnataka, Nizamabad in Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

"Partnering with Microsoft Ventures is a key step to support and nurture incubators, moving them to the next level by providing them an opportunity to get exposed to high end technology, get trained and mentored by professionals," Deshpande Foundation said in a release.