Forum Discussion
Cannot access startup verification flow
I signed up for Azure startup credits (self-service path, no investor code) approximately 83 days ago and received my initial $1,000 in credits on an Azure Sponsorship subscription. My 90-day business verification window to unlock the additional $4,000 closes within the next week.
I'm writing in hope that either someone from Microsoft can get me in touch with the right team, or a fellow founder has located a viable workflow that I didn't.
What I've tried:
Founders Hub portal (portal.startups.microsoft.com): Redirects to azure portal.
Azure portal home: Shows a "Build your startup" page with an "Unlock $1,000 in Azure credits — Verify with LinkedIn" prompt. This is the initial $1,000 onboarding step, which I already completed months ago. The portal does not recognize that I am already enrolled. Clicking "Verify with LinkedIn" returns a {"error":{"code":"BadRequest","message":"BadRequest (Conflict)"}} response from startupsweb.production.portalrp.azure.com/api/auth/linkedin/callback.
Azure support ticket: Filed a ticket under Benefits - Offers / Entitlement check (ticket #2606240010000362). The T1 agent is not reading the content of my messages and keeps directing me back to the Founders Hub portal and the same broken links. He is attempting to close the ticket without resolution.
email address removed for privacy reasons: Received an auto-reply that this is an unmonitored inbox directing me to submit a ticket through the Founders Hub portal — which redirects to the aforementioned dead end workflow.
I believe this is related to the program experience migration that went live May 29, 2026. My account was created before this date, so per Microsoft's own documentation I should be on the pre-migration portal experience, but neither the old nor new experience is functional for my account. It seems like those of us with in-progress states are just getting lost in the shuffle of the migration.
1 Reply
Hi jhoffmanSpilledInc, this sounds like the verification flow is stuck before you can finish claiming the startup credits. I would open a Microsoft for Startups support ticket as soon as possible, especially because the 90-day timer is involved. Include the email used for the startup account, the startup name, screenshots of the page where the flow fails, and the date you first received the offer. If you have an Azure tenant ID or subscription ID connected to the application, include that too. The key point is to show support that the delay is caused by the portal flow, not by you missing the deadline.
