MAIA Intelligence, a leading provider of powerful business intelligence tools for reporting and analysis that meet the needs of corporate users, application service providers and value-added resellers, today announced that they have been invited by Microsoft, the world’s leading software provider, to join its elite Startup Accelerator Program, in India.

Paul Murphy, Director of Innovation, Microsoft Corporation says “The Startup Accelerator Program is part of Microsoft’s Investment Framework, launched at i3 2007 last October.  The program is designed to help high potential software startups get access, guidance and support to accelerate their success through a series of non-equity investments. Selected participants receive customized engagement plans to support their software and market development efforts. Accelerator companies are selected based on their innovation, high growth potential, funding, platform decision and long term strategic importance to Microsoft.”

“I am excited about the MAIA Intelligence niche business model. The BI market has only penetrated 10 to 15 percent of the known user base, but there is a vast opportunity for BI well beyond today’s known markets.  MAIA has a huge opportunity help many companies in India become more productive and competitive with effective business intelligence.  Even though the market is consolidating, it's not commoditizing," he said. "It's all about customization, and understanding customer requirements, and tweaking. It's still very much an art and not a science."

 “1KEY BI from MAIA Intelligence is a clever product that solves real time customer needs, innovative technology powered by a robust Microsoft stack.highly experienced team, an exciting scalable business model targeted at leadership positions in enterprise and mid market application spaces, all made MAIA Intelligence worthy of our investment,” says Paul.

“Innovation is what separates the best from the rest,” Sanjay Mehta, CEO, MAIA Intelligence, ”our entry into the elite Microsoft Startup Accelerator program will significantly boost our new product develop initiatives, ramp up our marketing infrastructure, expand our customer base across global markets and will overall help us achieve leadership positions in a much shorter timeframe than previously possible. Microsoft has also helped by reviewing our business plan and provide assistance for funding.”

The Microsoft India Startup Accelerator Program is co-managed by Microsoft India and Microsoft’s Emerging Business Team (EBT) team in Silicon Valley. This team works with venture capitalists (VCs) and start-up companies worldwide to enable innovation and accelerate the software ecosystem. The team’s mission is to identify and facilitate opportunity for start-ups and VCs, acting as the single point of contact and accountability to Microsoft. Paul Murphy is director of innovation for Microsoft India. His charter is to increase innovation in India, for India, by working with start-ups, financiers, policymakers, academia, and industry visionaries 

Sourced From: EXL Public Relations