StoreXperience is an innovative company I have discussed in previous blogs that’s building a Personal Mobile shopping assistant application for consumers with mobile phones and devices. Their technology is based 100% on Microsoft’s technologies, leveraging platform products like Microsoft Performance Point, Dynamics, SQL Server among others. They are an example of how the Microsoft Emerging Business team in collaboration with our Global sales force work together to accelerate the growth of innovative companies. I teamed up with Kevin Kerr, Worldwide Technology Strategist in Worldwide sales, to manage their incubation and eventual exposure to the marketplace.
According to CEO Herve Pluche, he saved two years of cost by his engagement with both Microsoft Emerging Business and our Global sales force. See his testimonial in the following video (transcript below):
Video: Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program
HERVE PLUSH: Hello, everyone. I'm Herve Plush. I'm the president and founder of StoreXperience. We engage with Microsoft on the Accelerator program back in August of 2007, and I have to say that what we've accomplished over the past eight months, through the partnership with Microsoft, is probably what would have taken two years without the support of Microsoft.
Now, before I drill on the Microsoft support, let me tell you a few words about what we do.
In essence, we create interactivity between the consumer at the point of sales and the store and the brand. So, we allow the store and the brand to give you the information you need, through your mobile device, to make an educated decision as to what you're going to buy at the point of sales, and we give you a financial incentive to buy it now as opposed to wait until tonight or tomorrow to buy online. So, we are the anti-commerce solution for traditional stores and brands.
Now, focusing on the Startup Accelerator program, it offered us really two primary benefits. One was access to cool technologies. We build an application that relies on fundamental technology building blocks, and Microsoft has such a wide array of technologies that are compatible, that we were able in just a few months to build a business solution that leverages many of these technologies. So, that was really one of the primary benefits of the Accelerator program.
The other benefit, which is probably even more important for a startup, is market exposure. It's relatively easy for people that have typical skills to come up with great technical solutions, but very quickly you get to a point where you have to gauge market interest for the solution that you've built. You have to appear on the radar screen and collect feedback from the market as to how valuable that solution is. Thanks to Microsoft, we were given an opportunity to be an exhibitor at the annual convention of the National Retail Federation in New York. So, here we are six months after we built our solution, presented to our industry, the retail industry, and that was amazing feedback. In less than two days we generated 200 leads, and that was really for us a catalyst, an accelerator in terms of market penetration.
So, fantastic support and value in terms of access to cool technologies, and access and exposure to the market, that allowed the company to validate its offering and position, find a sweet spot in the marketplace. So, that was quite amazing. And honestly, I couldn't think of a better partner, a partner that gives you the tools, and gives you the market support and exposure to our target market, which is the retail market. So, these are the two main components; not mentioning how fun it is to work with people that wear the Microsoft company tag. That's the cherry on the cake.
