Empowering the AI Generation: Microsoft's Open-Source Initiative
In a world increasingly driven by open collaboration and community-driven innovation, Microsoft has undergone a remarkable transformation. The tech giant is on a mission to provide students, startups, AI developers, and entrepreneurs with the tools and resources they need to build groundbreaking solutions. Embracing open source is at the heart of this journey.Transforming Data Analysis with Power BI and AI
In this episode of the series "From Idea to A.I," the guest Karine Lago, who is an expert in Business Intelligence, author of three technical books published on Power BI, and a Microsoft MVP, will also be joined by Letícia Smirelli, who is also a Business Intelligence specialist and recognized by the MVP Program. They will show us how to transform data into intelligent insights with Power BI and Artificial Intelligence. They will demonstrate how we can use these two incredible tools to create interactive dashboards and reports that can be shared with others, enabling them to make smarter and faster decisions.
Grow, Build, and Connect with Microsoft for Startups
Microsoft for Startups is a unique program designed to help startups become a Microsoft business partner, through access to technology, channels, markets and customers. Our teams work with startups around the world, providing them with free access to Azure, enterprise grade technical support, development tools and dedicated resources to effectively sell to enterprise customers. Tune into this session to learn more about the Microsoft for Startups program, a $500 million initiative to provide startups access to both the technology and customer base needed to build and grow their business. Join us on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 11:00am Pacific to learn more about this exciting program! https://microsoftcloudpartners.eventbuilder.com/event?eventid=r3d0g7
Azure Startup Credit Issue
Hi, I've been trying to verify my LinkedIn account to unlock $1,000 in Azure startup credits for over a week. Every time the OAuth callback hits error and, I get: {"error":{"code":"BadRequest","message":"BadRequest (Conflict)"}}. I've revoked all LinkedIn app permissions on both LinkedIn and Microsoft sides. I suspect that the issue is an orphaned LinkedIn identity record in your backend from a previous failed attempt. My support ticket has gone unanswered for over a week now and I also created a post in the learn community that went unanswered for days now. Could you point me to the right person? Happy to provide any account details needed.
$17,493 in Undisclosed Marketplace Charges with No Cost Visibility, No Recourse, No Accountability
I'm a co-founder of a 13-person startup in the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub program. I'm posting here because after two months of support tickets, calls, and emails across both Microsoft and Anthropic, I have been unable to get anyone with decision-making authority to address this issue. I'm hoping this reaches someone at Microsoft who can help, and that other affected founders in the program will share their experiences. What happened: In February 2026, we deployed Claude Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 through Azure AI Foundry as part of a migration of our AI infrastructure. We are active users of our Azure sponsorship credits and assumed, as anyone would, that these models were covered the same way Azure OpenAI models are. There was no indication otherwise during deployment. In early March, we received our first invoice: $1,078.07 (invoice G144899694, billing period 02/01–02/28). We were shocked, but we paid it immediately and removed all Anthropic model deployments from our account to prevent further charges. It didn't matter. On April 9, we received a second invoice: $16,414.94 (invoice G151890529, billing period 03/01–03/31). Despite removing the deployments in mid-March, charges had already accumulated for the first half of the month. We are unable to pay this invoice. Our total exposure across both invoices is $17,493.01. Why we had no way to prevent this: No billing distinction at deployment. Azure AI Foundry presents all models (Microsoft-native and third-party) in the same unified interface. There is no warning, label, or confirmation step indicating that certain models are excluded from sponsorship credits. No cost visibility whatsoever. The Azure AI Foundry monitoring dashboard has an "Estimated Cost" section that is completely blank for these models, with a disclaimer: "Cost monitoring is available for Foundry Models sold directly by Azure only." We could see token counts but had zero visibility into what we were being charged. Token counts that don't explain the charges. The dashboards show our Claude Opus 4.6 deployment used 63.4M tokens and our Sonnet 4.6 deployments used roughly 170M tokens combined. At published rates, that should be in the low thousands, not $17,500. My analysis shows the dashboard hides billions of cached tokens (prompt caching reads and writes) that are invisible in the monitoring UI but account for the vast majority of the bill. There is no view in Azure that provides a breakdown of these charges by token type. No alerts or notifications. There were no cost alerts, no threshold warnings, and no notifications at any point. No indication in any Azure portal that charges were hitting our credit card. There was no line item, no pending charge, no Marketplace spend summary - nothing anywhere in the Azure ecosystem that showed dollars accumulating against our payment method for these deployments. What happened when we asked for help: Azure Support (TrackingID#2603090040002936): After a month-long wait, a support engineer told us Microsoft cannot issue credits for Marketplace charges and directed us to Anthropic. The first version of the response email referenced "Azure DDoS Protection Standard" instead of our actual issue, suggesting the volume of similar cases in the queue. Anthropic: Their AI support bot responded within one minute with a blanket statement and closed the ticket four hours later. I escalated, but have still not received a response over a month later. Microsoft for Startups Team (TrackingID#2604070040009778): Told us they cannot apply Marketplace charges against sponsorship credits and referred us to a Marketplace billing contact. Azure Marketplace billing contact: Pending response. The pattern is clear: Microsoft directs us to Anthropic. Anthropic directs us to Microsoft. The Microsoft for Startups team directs us to Azure Marketplace billing. No one takes responsibility. What I'm asking for: A full refund of $17,493.01 across invoices G144899694 and G151890529 That Microsoft implement clear billing warnings in Azure AI Foundry before deploying models that are excluded from sponsorship credits. That Microsoft provide actual cost visibility in the monitoring dashboard for all models deployed through AI Foundry, not just first-party models. To other founders in the program: If you have experienced this same issue, please reply to this thread. I know I'm not alone because this has been covered by The Register, InfoWorld, and Computerworld, and at least 20 founders have signed a Change.org petition about it. The more founders who come forward with specific amounts and case numbers, the harder this is to ignore. We joined Microsoft for Startups because the program was supposed to help early-stage companies manage infrastructure costs during the most financially vulnerable period of our growth. Instead, the program's own platform generated charges within 2 weeks that exceed the total sponsorship credits we've consumed over the past year, with no visibility, no warning, and no path to resolution. With Further Inc. | Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub Azure Support TrackingID #2603090040002936 Startup Support TrackingID #2604070040009778
No Decision After 7 Working Days + Portal Loop Issue – Rain Stella Technology
Hi Microsoft for Startups Community & Team, I am following up on my Microsoft for Startups application submitted on behalf of Rain Stella Technology, and would also like to flag a portal issue I experienced after the application was submitted. --- Application Status --- I received a confirmation email acknowledging receipt of my application, however it has now been 7 working days with no further communication — no approval, no decline, and no request for additional information. According to Microsoft's own guidelines, applications are typically reviewed within 3 business days. We are now more than double that timeframe with no update. Application Details: • Applicant Name: Khalid Adine • Startup Name: Rain Stella Technology • Status: Receipt confirmation received, no decision communicated since • Days Elapsed: 7 working days --- Portal Issue --- During and after submitting my application, I encountered a frustrating portal bug where, instead of displaying a confirmation screen or application status, the portal kept redirecting me back to the "Apply Now" screen — as if my submission had not been recorded. I received the receipt confirmation email, which confirmed the application went through, but the portal still does not reflect any application status. This caused significant confusion, and I wanted to flag it in case it is a widely known issue affecting other applicants. I also attempted to contact support via email (email address removed for privacy reasons), but the address returned a bounce error, leaving the forum and contact form as my only available channels. --- My Requests --- 1. Can someone from the team confirm the current status of our application? 2. Is any additional information or documentation required from our side? 3. Can the portal loop bug be investigated and fixed for other applicants facing the same issue? 4. What is the correct and currently working support email or channel for urgent queries? We are actively building our product and are eager to move forward with the program. Any update would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you for your time and support. Khalid Adine Founder, Rain Stella Technology
Founders Hub billing issue - stuck between Microsoft and ISV with no resolution path
Hi everyone, I'm reaching out to the community because I've hit a wall with standard support channels and hoping someone from the Founders Hub team or other founders who've faced similar issues can help. QUICK SUMMARY I'm a Founders Hub participant who got charged ~€1,000 for using Claude (Anthropic) models through Azure AI Foundry. I assumed these were covered by my $25k Sponsorship credits since: • I used ai.azure.com (not a separate marketplace) • There was no clear warning about separate billing • There's no way to monitor Marketplace spending in Founders Hub THE PROBLEM: I'm stuck in a loop: • Microsoft says "contact the ISV for refund approval" • Anthropic says "billing is handled by Microsoft, not us" • The "Support" link Microsoft points to redirects back to Microsoft Support I've sent detailed emails explaining this circular situation. Support keeps responding with the same copy-paste policy text, ignoring my request for escalation. MY ASK 1. Is there a dedicated support channel for Founders Hub billing issues? 2. Has anyone from the Founders Hub team dealt with similar Marketplace confusion before? 3. Any founders here who successfully resolved unexpected Marketplace charges? I'm not trying to get something for free - I already paid the first invoice (€460). I just want help with the second invoice that surprised me a month later. The Founders Hub program has been great otherwise, but this experience has been really frustrating. Any pointers would be hugely appreciated. Thanks! Bartek
