Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, long known as a student contest, now takes applications from early-stage startups around the world. First prize is $250,000 in cash plus $1 million in Azure cloud credits, and entries close on 28 February 2027.
The 2027 edition is part of Microsoft for Startups and has a new focus on business solutions, commercial readiness and growth. Your startup must be a registered company founded on or after 2 November 2024. It must build a software product or service with commercial potential, and it must not have raised a Series C or later round. Founders must be at least 18, but they do not need to be students. There are seven categories, four awards and a rolling review that runs until the deadline.
The competition has run since 2003, and it has already produced African finalists. In 2025, a Kenyan student team called Signvrse reached the top three with Terp, an AI tool that turns spoken words into sign language through lifelike avatars. The 2025 winner took home $100,000. In 2026, Patrick Brown of the University of Oxford won $150,000 with CopyFlag, a tool that finds copied and AI-altered designs online. He was the first winner from the United Kingdom. The top prize has now risen to $250,000.
Here is what the 2027 awards look like.
| Award | Cash | Azure credits |
|---|---|---|
| First prize. | $250,000. | $1,000,000. |
| Second prize. | $50,000. | $350,000. |
| Third prize. | $25,000. | $350,000. |
| Student prize. | $25,000. | $250,000. |
On our sums, the four awards add up to $350,000 in cash and $1.95 million in credits. Winners also get a feature on Microsoft’s social media and blog, a mentoring session with a Microsoft executive and a place in its Startups to Watch report. Each of the seven categories has a winner, and those winners join a Top 20 list. The categories are Developer Tools, Retail, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Cybersecurity, Financial Services, Deep Tech and Physical AI, and Student Startup. The category you choose decides which judges score you, so choose with care.
What do you need to apply? Startups must submit through the Award Force platform. The list is long, so start early.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Startup details. | A registered company, with a team of up to four people. |
| Azure account. | A valid Azure subscription ID, with at least $1 spent on 10 different Azure services by 28 February. |
| Microsoft for Startups account. | You must sign up. |
| Pitch deck. | Your story, market and plan. |
| Demo video. | Two to three minutes. |
| Technical overview. | An Azure architecture diagram. |
| Written answers. | Complete answers to all the competition questions. |
The Azure rule is the one most likely to catch teams out. You need to show real use of 10 different Azure services, so build on the platform now, not in the last week. Previous Imagine Cup winners cannot enter again. Teams in places under comprehensive US sanctions, such as Cuba, Iran and North Korea, are excluded, so check the US screening list for your location.
The timeline runs in four steps. Review and scoring continue from now until 28 February. Expert review follows from 1 to 12 March. Recorded live interviews by category take place from 16 to 31 March. Final judging happens in April, and winners are announced in May and June, with a World Championship. Microsoft says dates may change.
To apply, go to imaginecup.microsoft.com and follow the link for the startup competition. Keep your pitch short and your numbers clear. Show who pays you, how much and why they stay. Make your demo video show the product working, not slides. And explain why Azure is part of your design, since the judges will look for that.
Why it matters: African startups rarely get a shot at a prize this size from a global company. A $250,000 award, plus $1 million in cloud credits, could fund a year of product work. Three of the categories, Financial Services, Healthcare and Life Sciences and Cybersecurity, line up with sectors where African founders already build well. The contest also gives a young company a stamp of approval from a major tech firm, which can help with customers and investors. There are trade-offs. Credits are not cash, and they tie your product to one cloud for a while. Read the official rules for the terms on ownership and intellectual property before you enter, since the competition’s FAQ points to the rules for those details.
What to watch next: the list of category winners and the Top 20 when judging ends in April. Watch how many African startups make it to the interview stage in March. Watch where and when the World Championship is held. And watch whether the prize money, or the rules on who can enter, change before the final round.
Sources: MSME Africa Online on the Microsoft Imagine Cup Startup Competition 2027; Microsoft Imagine Cup, 2027 FAQ; Imagine Cup official site; Oriel College on the 2026 Imagine Cup winner; MENA Startup Digest on the 2026 world finalists; Microsoft Source EMEA on Kenya’s Signvrse.
A note for startup founders: Don’t practice on investors. Practice on AI first. RaiseReady by Index Prima is an AI fundraising simulator for African founders: upload your pitch deck, get a readiness score and face a tough AI investor before the real meeting. Find this post, and every post we publish, at raiseready.indexprima.com.
