A few current success stories

1. A few current success stories • Brazil: TechResult • First TechResult product went from idea to prototype in just six weeks with help from MIC • TechResult became a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner just 3.5 years after it was founded • Chile: GLED • MIC helped four winners of Entrepreneurs.NET contest start GLED to bring “enhanced reality” software to market • MIC helped deliver eight new companies such as GLED to Valparaiso economy in just two years Canada: Frozen North • MIC cofounded Infusion Angels, a business-startup acceleration center in Waterloo, Ontario • Infusion Angels helped Waterloo students form Frozen North Productions, a cool gaming software company

2. Brazil: TechResult • Microsoft helped four civil engineering students in Curitiba, Brazil, found TechResult, a company that creates software for construction management How Microsoft and the MIC helped: • MIC in Curitiba helped TechResult founders develop a prototype for their first product in six weeks at no cost • MIC also helped TechResult recruit most of its 50+ employees • “Our company would not exist today without the MIC.”-Marcelo D’Ávila de Pauli, CEO of TechResult Business status: • TechResult has created eight products for construction, forestry management, supply-chain management, and events management • TechResult became a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner 3.5 years after founding, and had revenues of about $500,000 in 2007 • “The MIC has created a symbiotic ecosystem here in the state of Paraná that has resulted in 15 new companies.”-Marcelo D’Ávila de Pauli

3. Chile: GLED • MIC launched Emprendedores.NET (Entrepreneurs.NET) contest to foster entrepreneurship among software engineering students. How Microsoft and the MIC helped: • Four annual contest winners each receive US$5,000 to develop prototype, plus technical support and business advice to bring idea to market • After six-month development process, winners have a functioning application and real customers and usually receive funding to set up a company Business Status: • Example: Four students who won Entrepreneurs.NET entertainment software category in 2007 with IVEO “augmented reality” software for children. They formed a company, GLED, to bring IVEO and other products to market. • “We couldn’t have done it without MIC.” -Aníbal Valencia, GLED developer • “Thanks to Microsoft, we have delivered eight new companies to the local environment in two years, all validated by a difficult assessment process.”-Víctor Aguilera, director of International Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Valparaiso, Chile

4. Canada: Frozen North Productions • Microsoft and a coalition of partners started a technology incubator that helped get a cool new game-development studio off the ground How Microsoft and the MIC helped: • Microsoft and Infusion Angels, a Canadian angel investment firm, launched the Infusion Angels Innovation Centre (IAIC) in Waterloo, Ontario. • IAIC gave students and budding entrepreneurs access to the latest technology, training, consultants, PR advice, and sales and business support in world-class facilities on the University of Waterloo campus. • IAIC helped some Waterloo students quickly grow their game-development idea into revenue-generating business Frozen North Productions. Business Status: • Frozen North employs seven people, will soon expand to ten, has developed several hit games for the Xbox, and sells through Xbox Live Marketplace. • “I love Microsoft. If you can scratch Microsoft’s back, they will scratch yours.”-Julian Spillane, CEO, Frozen North Productions

5. Upcoming success stories • Indonesia: iMULAI campaign • MIC co-sponsors a campaign to foster technical competitiveness in Indonesia. • Campaign helps kick-start local software economy by converting ideas into enterprises • Spain: BI and Mobility clusters • MICs in Aragon and Castile & León help create IT clusters that focus on business intelligence and mobile technologies. • Clusters aid more than 70 technology companies and help create thousands of new jobs. Tunisia: IMPRESS campaign • Microsoft launches a campaign to find, foster, and finance the 10 best technology start-ups in the country. • Campaign enhances synergies between businesses, research institutions, universities, and banks.

6. Indonesia: iMULAI campaign • Microsoft and an alliance of international development agencies are sponsoring a campaign to foster technical competitiveness in Indonesia. How Microsoft and the MIC helped: • Microsoft, SENADA, and USAID created iMULAI, a national software-development contest to increase competitiveness through innovation. • Microsoft sponsored National Innovation Day in December 2007 to celebrate people who contribute to local software innovation. • Microsoft efforts are helping to kick-start the local software economy by converting ideas into profitable, competitive enterprises. Business Status: • iMULAI contest and campaign spurs growth of Indonesian micro-ISVs—software firms with fewer than 10 employees. • “Despite all the difficulties in our country, we can always learn something, and iMULAI lets the youth of Indonesia prove that!”-Risman Adnan Mattotorang, software developer, Microsoft Indonesia

7. Spain: BI and Mobility clusters • MIC in Aragon helped create the first Spanish center for business intelligence. • MIC in Castile and León lead creation of the first IT cluster focused on development of mobile technologies. How Microsoft and the MIC helped: • Spanish government supports technology “clusters”—companies and organizations in related fields that benefit by associating in business parks. • MIC helped create a Business Intelligence Network Integration (BIIN) cluster in a technology park in Walqa to promote business intelligence companies. • Microsoft helped create a Mobile Technologies cluster in Valladolid to spur innovation in information access through mobile devices. Business Status: • MIC in Walqa has helped more than 40 companies in Aragon and the MIC in Valladolid aided more than 30 companies in Castile and León, helping to create thousands of new jobs in 2007. • “This is the best model for regional development in new information technologies” –Louis Martin, Microsoft development director, Spain

8. Tunisia: IMPRESS campaign • Microsoft launched a campaign to find, foster, and finance the 10 best technology start-ups in the country. How Microsoft and the MIC helped: • The MIC in Tunisia, the first of its kind in North Africa, opened in 2006 in the El Ghazala Technopark with help from Tunisia’s government. • Microsoft sponsored Academic Days in February 2007 to help students prepare for the next generation of digital technology and entrepreneurship. • The MIC is sponsoring a program called IMPRESS to find, support, and locate financing for the ten best technology start-up projects in the country. • Selected start-ups get high-level technological support, access to venture capital, and business advice to work out an impressive business plan. Business Status: • IMPRESS is developing new links between local businesses, research institutions, higher education, and foreign and domestic financial institutions. • “We now have a good environment for technical innovation and creativity.” -Mrs. Aicha Ennaifar, general director, El Ghazala Technopark