Announcing Microsoft for Startups Autonomous Driving
<p>December 16, 2019, 11:11 AM</p>
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<p>Sept 2019 Frankfurt...</p>
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<p>MSFT for startups.. AD autonom driving. 120k dollars of Azure free for startups!</p>
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<p>Cognata for simululation; Ascent Robotics for RL and neurosci to delvier complex L4 driving scenarios; Linker Networks in Taiwan for annotaiton efficiency and reliability. Udelv for retail delivery. Applied Intuition. </p>
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<p>Increasingly startups have been playing a crucial role in bringing autonomous driving technology to the world. From building full-stack autonomy solutions for OEMs to opening up new business opportunities in areas like delivery, ride-sharing and long haul transit, startups have been at the forefront of technological advancement in this space. Startups also play a critical role in delivering important AD enablement technologies and solutions like simulation, data management, labeling and more.</p>
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<p>Cultivating a state-of-the-art, global partner ecosystem has been a focal point of our autonomous driving strategy and our startup partners have played an important part in helping our customers deliver the promise of autonomous driving at scale. For instance, Cognata is using their simulation technology to help customers like Audi AG <a href="http://www.cognata.com/aid-selects-cognata-autonomous-vehicle-simulation-partner/" rel="no-follow" data-bi-area="content" data-bi-name="speed up their AV development">speed up their AV development</a>. We announced partnerships with Ascent Robotics, a Tokyo-based startup making <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/ja-jp/2019/06/11/190529-ascent-robotics-and-microsoft-japan/" rel="no-follow" data-bi-area="content" data-bi-name="innovative use of reinforcement learning and neuroscience to deliver complex L4 driving scenarios">innovative use of reinforcement learning and neuroscience to deliver complex L4 driving scenarios</a> and Linker Networks, a startup based in Taiwan taking <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/apac/features/a-new-way-to-give-driving-lessons-for-autonomous-vehicles/" rel="no-follow" data-bi-area="content" data-bi-name="annotation efficiency and reliability to a whole new level">annotation efficiency and reliability to a whole new level</a> through their AI-based auto-labeling technology helping the industry build smarter, safer vehicles. We are also closely working with startups like Udelv, who are paving the path for autonomous driving to meet the <a href="https://www.udelv.com/udelv-accelerates-autonomous-delivery-with-microsoft-azure/" rel="no-follow" data-bi-area="content" data-bi-name="growing demands of the retail delivery space">growing demands of the retail delivery space</a>. This week at IAA, <a href="https://www.appliedintuition.com/" rel="no-follow" data-bi-area="content" data-bi-name="Applied Intuition">Applied Intuition</a> announced the release of their Applied Development Platform optimized on Microsoft Azure. </p>
<p>The MfS-AD program is another example of our continuing commitment to the AD startup community. We want to empower pioneering startups who are defining what is next in autonomous driving by helping them scale up and scale out through business and technical enablement. As part of the program, all selected startups will receive the <a href="https://startups.microsoft.com/en-us/benefits/" rel="no-follow" data-bi-area="content" data-bi-name="premium offer">premium offer</a> from our Microsoft for Startups program including access to up to $120,000 USD of free Azure cloud.</p>