In association with Microsoft CASE STUDY 5:GallantCloud
currently going through the 12-week Accelerator programme in London currently at work on an unnamed casual title. “There are many, many ways in which the Microsoft Ventures UK Accelerator helped to form the GallantCloud team,” offers the studio’s artist Ben Cooper. “Microsoft realised our ‘newness’ as a team and they really helped us to bond and
to last, it must still be a business. Fortunately, Microsoft Ventures’ Accelerator programme can help young teams be just that. One studio
INTERVIEW: Andrew Webber
Andrew Webber is your go-to man if you’re an indie looking for support from Microsoft. Here he explains why Microsoft is keen to work with start-ups and small teams.
Of course, Microsoft would like start-ups, whether they are game studios or other kinds of tech companies, to develop on and for Microsoft cloud or app platforms. But if that was our only reason, it would be incredibly self-serving, and the truth is we want to see a successful and vibrant start- up community in the UK doing new and exciting products and services, because that is good for everybody – the start-ups, the UK economy, and vendors like Microsoft.
First of all, Microsoft itself is a massive opportunity for any start-up. We procure services with a multitude of different vendors, and we have seen examples where start-ups we work with actually become vendors to Microsoft. Next, Microsoft works with pretty much every single enterprise in the world, and we have referred start-ups to customers of Microsoft because we think their tech is interesting. The other advantage is that Microsoft truly is a cross-platform organisation, whether you’re developing for mobile platforms, consoles, cloud or browser. If you want to work with a vendor that sits across all those platforms, Microsoft is the one. As Microsoft is a massively technology and engineering led organisation, we can provide a lot of technical expertise when we support a start-up.
I think BizSpark is a great example of how Microsoft can help. It’s coming top of investment in kind, we organise networking events to introduce start-ups to clients of Microsoft and the investment community. That has nothing to do with developing on Microsoft stack, and everything to do with those start-ups being successful. Globally some 75,000 start-ups have now in the UK we have about 3,000 BizSpark-registered start-ups, and
about 4,000 that have graduated from the three-year programme and are still in business.
Completely. That’s partly how the Accelerator programme is being constructed, to enable start-ups to learn from each other as well as Microsoft and the mentors we have. BizSpark is exactly the same, and we do broker introductions between start-ups as well as with enterprise clients.
Windows Phone reached a milestone recently where it tipped over 13% share in the UK, phenomenal growth in such a short time. Yes, it’s not quite the market share yet of iOS and Android but it is showing phenomenal growth with Nokia delivering an exciting range of smartphones, phablets and now a new Windows 8 tablet announced as well. Windows 8 has only been out since October last year, and already we are seeing games that have been downloaded a million times. So there are lots of good reasons start-ups should think about both Windows 8 and Windows Phone as part of a cross-platform strategy couple along with our Windows Azure Cloud platform.
No, because we encourage almost any technology start-up to get involved who is developing a software product or service. With BizSpark, as long revenue threshold of less than a million dollars a year, then you should talk to us.
That’s simple, they should contact me at
andrew@microsoft.com.
Halfway through the Accelerator at the time of writing, the GallantCloud team have learned in six weeks what unsupported studios can devote years to uncovering. “I think that one of the most important aspects for me has been the use of the Central Working workspace [in London],” adds Cooper. “It is the perfect environment for our young team where we are surrounded by brilliant people. By talking to these other start-up companies and diving into all of the events in the local – and not so local – area we have changed.” According to Cooper, thanks to the Accelerator GallantCloud are no longer a team of students, but “a team of professional young gentlemen” that have a very clear aim, and, now, the means to accomplish it.
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