Microsoft Announces GitHub for Startups (It’s for the big guys)

Like co-pilot, GitHub for Startups is what startup founders need to build, collaborate and ship their product from idea to IPO. Let’s talk about the requirements and how you can apply.

Ever since Microsoft acquires Github, we’ve been seeing some features such as the GitHub co-pilot, the ReadMe project, and many other improvements. The company recently announced a new feature or let me say a new plan and they called it “GitHub for Startups”

In case you don’t know what is GitHub, It is the world’s largest Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. Developers in Nigeria can easily work with developers in the United States, India, Canada, and any part of the world.

The company which was acquired by Microsoft in 2018 makes it easy for software developers to collaborate faster and more effectively. Currently, over 80 million developers across the world use GitHub.

Companies like Slack, Coinbase, Spotify, Stripe, and some unicorn startups in the world make use of GitHub for collaboration and most importantly, the enterprise plan because of features like security.

What is GitHub for Startups?

GitHub for Startups is simply GitHub’s enterprise plan for startups.

To understand this, GitHub is free for developers to use, but if you want to get more from using GitHub, you can subscribe to any of its premium plans. Currently, there are 3 pricing plans on GitHub, their pricing is as follows;

• Free – $0
• Team – $48/yr for each user
• Enterprise – $252/yr for each user

If you have 10 developers working in your startup, and you are using GitHub’s enterprise plan, you will be paying $2,520 per year. It increases as the number of developers in your startup increases.

But if you have a startup with a number of developers up to 20 but not more than that, this enterprise plan will be free for you courtesy of GitHub for Startups. It seems like good stuff, right? But don’t answer yet until you know the requirements.

GitHub partners with investors for GitHub for Startups

GitHub is a code-sharing and hosting platform, and now they are dealing with startups. So they partner with top investors, incubators, accelerators, and VCs to make this program more effective. Currently, the partners include;

• Y Combinator
• TechStars
• LightSpeed
• Sequoia
• Andreessen Horowitz

RELATED: Y Combinator Startup Application Guide

These are five of the biggest startup accelerators in the world right now. GitHub is still accepting applications from those investors or startups who wish to be part of this.

If you have a tech hub, you run a startup ecosystem program, you are an incubator/accelerator, or you are a venture capitalist, click on apply to become a partner on this page.

Back to startup founders or representatives, the question you may have in mind right now is;

What are the Benefits of GitHub for Startups?

If your startup is eligible, you will enjoy all features contained in GitHub’s top premium (Enterprise) plan for up to 20 seats. Not only that, but because it’s for startups, you will also enjoy;

• Access to the best DevOps platform to build your startup with all the technical or developers’ tools you need.
• Also, product guidance for your startup is important to take your startup to the next level because writing code is not always enough.

The question you are asking yourself right now is; “Will my startup be eligible for this GitHub for Startups offer?” Well, I’m partially disappointed because most “startups” who are just starting out and can’t afford this will need to continue using their free organization feature on GitHub because of the requirements…

Requirements for GitHub for Startups

There are just two requirements;

• Early-stage but funded startups

The term “early-stage” doesn’t mean “any startup that’s just growing”. If you are just building and you haven’t raised any funds, just forget about GitHub for Startups.

If you are smart enough to say you’ve been funded when you are not, you are just shooting yourself because GitHub has partnered with venture capitalists, investors, and accelerators. It’s very easy for GitHub to verify each application.

• You haven’t received GitHub’s Enterprise credit

If by chance your organization has received GitHub enterprise credit before, then this offer is not for you because you’ve enjoyed the offers contained in the GitHub for Startups even before it is publicly released.

If you have been funded up to Series A (not pre-seed o), you can apply for this offer. Here is how to;

How to apply for GitHub for Startups

• Click on “Apply now” on this page to get started. A modal will appear, where you are to:
• Fill in your startup details and then,
• Fill in your billing details, that’s where they will deduct the subscription fee when the first year free plan expires. Then finally,
• Accept GitHub’s terms and Click the sign-up button.

That’s all, then wait for a response. If you have any questions, there is an email address you can contact on the page.

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A personal opinion on this GitHub for Startups

GitHub for Startups is for the big guys for startups who are really in the idea stage, this is what GitHub thinks is fair for them. 

It’s like a marketing strategy, if they allow every nook and cranny of startups, it won’t be a good business because, at the end of the first year, many of these startups won’t be able to continue using the plan because they can’t afford it.

Even though the startups they are accepting can afford to spend $20,000 to subscribe for the next 5 years, GitHub still feels it’s better to onboard them first by allowing them to taste the good vibes that come with the enterprise plan because some funded startups use the free plan up till date. 

If they see how amazing the enterprise plan is, they won’t be doubting maybe to start paying for it or not.

It’s just like when GitHub co-pilot was released, the AI is so amazing that it can help you write your code with just little editing from you. After a year of its free trial, GitHub started charging for it and I believe some developers will pay because they’ve seen how helpful it is.