On an island such as Malta, where knowledge-based services are increasingly becoming the backbone of the economy, the Microsoft Accelerator programme is a welcome initiative.

This global programme is aimed at empowering entrepreneurs on their journey – from having an innovative idea to building a great company. Access to finance and expertise was previously an issue for companies just starting to get off the ground, but initiatives such as this one allows entrepreneurs to gain access to a wealth of knowledge which could be the tipping point.

Microsoft Accelerator primarily works with later-stage start-ups by providing the necessary know-how to help them become successful companies. However, the Microsoft Innovation Centre (MIC) is aimed at helping people with innovative ideas start out on the long road to building a business. The MIC in Malta is the local point of contact for start-ups to apply for Microsoft Accelerator.

The Malta Independent on Sunday met with Didem Un Ates, Global Partnerships Director for Microsoft Accelerator, in order to gain a better understanding of how the whole process works.

Also present for the interview was Edward Portelli, the Director of Malta’s Microsoft Innovation Centre, which acts as the local link between the Microsoft Accelerator and Maltese start-up companies.

Ms Un Ates  explains how, “The Microsoft Accelerator programme started about four years ago. The first ones to be set up were in Tel Aviv and Bangalore. When we speak of the accelerator programme, we’re talking about a very demanding and intense programme. It is about 16 to 18 weeks long – roughly four months. Each accelerator usually has two cohorts, one in September to December and another in January to June. We have been so successful that we have now expanded to seven locations in total: Berlin, Bangalore, Tel Aviv, Paris, London, Beijing and Seattle. There is also a joint venture – or special arrangement – in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“There is a curriculum for every week – as I said, it’s very demanding – but generally it is built into three areas: building the product, finding the customers and finding the investors. What I think is a hidden gem, within Microsoft, let alone externally, is the results of this accelerator.

“These results are truly fascinating: we do not take equity, we help all our accelerators and strategic partners – and we have found that the more the merrier, as the eco systems grow with this. It is a win-win attitude. Having said that, because we do not take equity and because of our enterprise heritage there is a slight advantage with special business to business start-ups. We are very proud of our results, which are measured in four metrics. One of these measurements is the number of start-ups that receive follow-on funding after graduating within 12 months.

“We have had roughly, over the four years, about 500 graduates. We receive 10,000 applications every year and accept 200. At any given time we have 200 start-ups in the pipeline and an average of 81 per cent manage to get follow-on funding.

“People who work in this industry are actually most pleasantly surprised by this number – 32 exited start-up status while so far three start-ups have successfully gone through the process and obtained regulatory approval for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

“The team has cracked something – how it works, how it succeeds. Now we are in this truly fascinating position where our partners are prestigious ones, chasing us to replicate the process with them. This is good for us because we don’t have to invest our own money, and we also because we want to help our customers and partners.

“We are in this amazing position where we help corporates, government, universities, and large organisations – and we have start-ups that are best in class. We simply bridge the gaps – it’s so natural!

She explains how the programme works with every enterprise on the planet, from Fortune 500 companies to the small fry.

“Every corporate or large organisation is trying to come up with a good innovation programme because it’s the only way to survive in this age. Now we get this through our own accelerator in seven locations and through our strategic partners in each country - we get to see the best start-ups in every ecosystem you can think of. From Santiago to Singapore – we cover it all. We see the trends, we have the venture capital connections, both globally with the biggest players and locally with the small but important people from the Middle East to Asia – so we feel that we really connect it all. It shows in the results. I think this is the reason for the results we have achieved.

“Tel Aviv, Bangalore and Beijing were the first to use the Accelerator programme and naturally they have had more time to revise and improve themselves. They have been recognised as being number one in their markets for two or three years in a row. These are crowded, advanced ecosystems and we are very proud of them.

“It all starts from the Microsoft Innovation Centre – Edward Portelli heads the Malta MIC. Microsoft has around 100 MICs around the world and Malta’s has been doing very well.

“Our genuine aspiration, and I think we’re on the right path, is to cover everyone who wants to be an entrepreneur - from concept stage to enterprise. We help them throughout the whole lifecycle of the start up. We have more than 100 innovation centres in over 33 countries. And even if you are not in one of those countries, we have had the BizSpark packages on offer since 2008.”

BizSpark is a programme offers start-ups software and cloud services in order to help them with their particular needs.

“It starts with the early stage, which call the discovery stage. Then there is validation of the business idea. This can happen within an accelerator or not, it depends. We have offerings for everyone and we hold boot camps. I was in Romania this weekend and we covered early days and concept material. It was just three days, super-condensed and intense. So much so that I have been sleep-deprived for a week now!

“Then we have the accelerator and the growth scaling stage. This is when our graduates, or our strategic partner graduates – the ones with a lot of potential who also have to be sitting on Microsoft platform – come into their own.

“We hold their hands to help them grow at a faster rate than what would ordinarily happen.  What I mean is that if their strategy for a product or service is good enough for us, we plug that in to our sales force’s repertoire. In a way, Microsoft sales force becomes the start-up’s sales force. I cannot say it is perfectly implemented as of yet – we are working on it, but in that way we are really connecting the full circle.

“The alumni/graduate programme is exactly about that – we have South African start ups being sent to our London accelerator. Why? Because they want to expand into 18 English-speaking countries, we are able to do that - anybody can go wherever they want. Next is the Seattle accelerator because they want to enter the American market next.

Shedding light on the Malta MIC, Mr Portelli explains: “We are actually the people on the ground who speak to students and act as a fresh point of contact. The local Bizspark programme is available, which is Microsoft’s way of helping start-ups by offering them software and cloud services. Through the innovation centre we step that up and make it more personal with the space we have there, the architecture discussions and the one-to-one meetings. Once the company is good enough, we prepare them up to apply for the accelerators directly. Some of them want to run to the accelerator immediately and some want to make the contacts. We work very close with the accelerators – that’s the local link with the accelerator programme.

Ms Un Ates also spoke of being exposed to a few local start-ups who are already on track for applying with Microsoft Accelerator: “Just by spending a few hours here with start-ups we came across two or three who are going to apply for the accelerator. The connections made and the feedback they receive is invaluable. Even just applying the feedback you receive helps you know where to look and how to go forward.

Turning to the technology support and enablement aspect of a start-up’s life cycle, she said: “For a select number of start-ups we can help with coding or implementation. If it’s going to be the tipping point for that start-up, we have an army of engineers that we can channel for their benefit. While sales force implementation and technical implementation are still works in progress, it is a genuinely good willed effort.”