IDG Ventures India and Microsoft India have announced a funding programme under which the former intends to invest up to Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in start-ups.

With this partnership, a start-up gets the Microsoft suite of tools and technologies free for three years, as well as access to funding of up to Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) by IDG Ventures, officials of two entities said.

The programme is open to technology companies that are less than three years old with annual revenues that are less than Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million).

Companies meeting the criteria would be offered access to development software at no upfront cost for three years through Microsoft's BizSpark programme announced last December in India. Start-ups meeting the investment criteria of the venture capital firm would be provided access to funding of up to Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million).

"The partnership with IDG Ventures and their commitment of this corpus of funds gives deserving start-ups a chance to really accelerate their growth," Microsoft India Managing Director Rajan Anandan said.