Microsoft: “We would love to join you on this journey and accelerate your impact”

Immersive. Once in a lifetime. Invaluable. Those are just some of the adjectives you’ll hear to describe Draper University’s Hero Training Program.  

We are just days away from the deadline for submissions to Draper’s Silicon Spring Pitch Prize. Regional startups in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have the chance to win an expenses-paid admission into this five-week training and networking experience in California.

Microsoft joins LUMO Labs as a supporter of this edition. Now, while Microsoft may be a tech giant and a household name, the company still finds it important to support events like this for the startup ecosystem.

“We, as Microsoft, really believe in doing good and doing business together,” says Maud Zaal, ISV Customer Program Manager at Microsoft Netherlands. “This event is the perfect way of learning more about the fantastic and innovative startups that go above and beyond to improve the world.”

Growing from its small origins to a worldwide powerhouse, Microsoft knows a thing or two about innovation and what’s important in business.

“Microsoft’s presence in the Bay Area is rooted in innovation. We have just opened our new Silicon Valley Campus, which embodies a forward-looking mentality, and as a result, it will be our smartest, greenest office yet,” says Zaal. “We also believe in scale and collaboration. If you have a scalable proposition towards your customers, we believe there are no borders.”

The invaluable networking of the Hero Training Program doesn’t just start when the winner steps foot in California. It starts the day of the pitching event for all participating startups, whether they win or not. That’s because – for Microsoft and the other competition supporters – this isn’t just a one-day-only event.

“We would love to learn more and support these startups today and in the future,” says Zaal. “These companies are doing a fantastic job in making the world a better place. We would love to join them on their journey and accelerate their impact through our technology and network.”

She encourages all high-tech startups to participate in this event by saying, “Sign up and share your ambitions. Use the event to partner up.”

Interested in joining this fantastic networking opportunity and having a chance to win a Golden Ticket to Draper University’s five-week Hero Training Program? Act fast and send your pitch decks to goldenticket@lumolabs.io before the deadline passes. All program information is here.