Microsoft Ventures Announces First Set Of Think Next Initiatives In Association With Ispirt


At the first Think Next event in May, Microsoft Ventures and iSPIRT had jointly conducted a panel discussion, titled ‘Trends in Corporate Development: The Emerging Landscape of M&A’, which examined the overarching trends that will decide the future of Indian M&A’s in the software product industry.  Some of the key learnings from the panel are:   

•         Most Indian startups fail to show up on the radar of the large acquirers in the US.  Discovery is the number one challenge facing India technology product startups.

•         Corporate development professionals are agnostic to the location of the company they target. Specific product and technology fit are primary criteria for corporates.

•         Acquisitions with the sole intent of adding engineering talent (acqui-hires) are extremely hot right now. The shortage of Big Data, Analytics and Android/iOS engineers are the primary drivers.

•         Entrepreneurial readiness is a key challenge during the M&A process. Indian entrepreneurs traditionally are techies and invariably spend limited time building a clear differentiation story or preparing themselves for organizational and financial diligence.

•         A new generation of MNC companies looking to establish an India-presence will drive M&A activity in software products.

•         Report identifies that potential M&A opportunities lie in areas such as Machine Learning and Analytics, HR and Recruiting, Cloud Infrastructure and Mobility.

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