Telekom Srbija’s TS Ventures Fund and Microsoft to co-invest in startups
Belgrade, 27 March 2023 – The US company Microsoft and Telekom Srbija’s TS Ventures Fund have signed an agreement on business and technical cooperation envisaging that the startups which undergo the selection process and qualify for the investments backed by TS Ventures Fund, will also get Microsoft’s support, so that they will have up to EUR 150,000 worth of its services at their disposal. The said amount equals the value of products and services which startups can use within Microsoft’s Founders Hub programme – related to Microsoft Azure, Visual Studio Enterprise, Github Enterprise, Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Dynamics365, but also partner offers – such as OpenAi, Stripe, Bubble and many other services available within the associated benefits.
Milan Gospić, director of Microsoft Serbia, addressed the importance of this support extended to startup founders, at the onset of their further development process.
’’We are always ready, as a company, to support the startup community, as the development of a country means direct investments in digitalization, so we continue along that path in the year when we celebrate 20th anniversary of our Serbian operations. We are strategically committed to empowering innovation and through this cooperation we want to offer our technical and advisory support, professional leadership, an opportunity for networking and connection. We provide you with the opportunity to build or upgrade your business and to offer your solution on international markets through Microsoft global sales network“, said Gospić.
The agreement with Microsoft is an important incentive both for us as the first official VC Fund in this part of Europe, and for our founder, Telekom Srbija, but also for our startups and the entire eco-system and our country in general, said the director of TS Ventures Fund, Davor Sakač.
’’Over the past 20 years, one of the largest global companies has recognized the potential of our entrepreneurs and it is prepared to help them develop their business by using advanced tools and resources within Microsoft global platforms. That way, it will bring them closer to the global market and make them more competitive and available around the world. As far as our Fund is concerned, we are very proud of getting yet another recognition of the quality of our work, after the first year of our operations. There is another important fact I would like to bring up – the US Microsoft has recognized and to certain extent validated the choice and diversity of our recent investments“, said Sakač.
TS Ventures Fund has selected nine startups so far, that are also entitled, under this agreement, to Microsoft support in their further development.
