StartX Announces Partnership with Microsoft, Bringing 2012 Fundraising Total Over $1M

More to come today at the Demo Day live stream at 5:15pm. Be sure to check it out!

StartX is pleased to announce a Signature Partnership with Microsoft to support high-potential
entrepreneurs coming out of Stanford University. As StartX’s newest partner, Microsoft will
provide financial sponsorship, technical resources, and significant scaling and distribution
opportunities for StartX’s portfolio companies through Microsoft BizSpark.

With support from its partners now totaling over $1M this year, StartX can continue to fulfill its
mission of becoming the best place in the world for entrepreneurs to develop.

“StartX’s vision is to combine the wisdom of the private sector with the energy and imagination
of founders coming from an institution like Stanford. This vision comes to life now because of
the rich bench of mentors and advisors from the venture and entrepreneurial world that offer
their time and expertise to the program,” said Dan’l Lewin, corporate vice president, strategic
and emerging business development, Microsoft. “We are honored that Microsoft BizSpark can
support this effort.”

Over the last several months, StartX companies have begun leveraging Microsoft’s resources as
part of their company development. For example, Microsoft is working closely with Appfluence,
a StartX company that builds priority-management software solutions for executives and
managers. Microsoft is providing extensive technical, business, and design resources for
Appfluence to migrate their award-winning product, Priority Matrix, to the Windows 8 platform.
MindSumo, a platform for companies to actively engage with students by posting real-world
challenges for them to solve, has also been working with Microsoft.

“For many founders in StartX, access to top mentors and technical expertise is a crucial element
for their long-term success,” said Cameron Teitelman, founder of StartX. “Working closely
with Microsoft is a great opportunity for StartX founders to leverage the products, resources and
connections they need to accelerate their business.”

Microsoft BizSpark is a global program that helps startups succeed. With over 50,000 startups
from 100 countries in the program, and a global network of 2,300 BizSpark partners, Microsoft
provides great business value at no cost to young technology companies around the world. The
program offers a wide range of Microsoft technology as well as technical and business expertise.

Microsoft joins StartX’s other financial sponsors including AOL, Greylock Partners, and the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, whose grant to StartX was announced recently.

Microsoft’s Dan’l Lewin shares entrepreneurial war stories with StartX founders