REDMOND, Wash. — April 18, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. and “Angel’s Gate,” a groundbreaking Asian reality television series that debuted Feb. 6 on Channel NewsAsia, today announced that Microsoft will offer its Office 365 cloud productivity service for free to entrepreneurs from across Asia who have been shortlisted to participate in the “Angel’s Gate” television series.

The premise of “Angel’s Gate” is to provide viewers with an inside look into the highly competitive nature of venture capital and angel investor funding. To get a chance at being awarded funding to kick-start their businesses, entrepreneurs submit their business ideas online, and, if contestants obtain approval from the judge on their business pitches, they will then have the opportunity to pitch their ideas in a final round for funding.

“Office 365 is an essential tool for aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses today,” said Ash Singh, founder and CEO, Angel Gate Foundation. “In the creation of ‘Angel’s Gate,’ my PowerPoint presentation powered by Office 365 allowed me the flexibility to evolve my pitches quickly to achieve my business goals.”

Startups across Asia are quickly realizing the opportunities that cloud computing offers. Whether it is the ability to leverage IT capabilities more cost-effectively, create new ways to serve new customers or even operate a business without limitations of IT, cloud technology plays an important role in the success of startups.

“Office 365 will empower Asian entrepreneurs with the tools and solutions to transform their businesses through better communication and collaboration,” said Simon Mouyal, regional director of Small and Medium Business and Cloud Marketing for Microsoft Asia Pacific. “Entrepreneurs now have the power to think big and be small, to be big and act fast, because Office 365 is a powerful business enabler.”

With Office 365 for small businesses, customers can be up and running with Office Web Apps, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and an external website in minutes, for $6 (U.S.) per user, per month. These tools put enterprise-grade email, shared documents, instant messaging, videoconferencing, webconferencing, portals and more at everyone’s fingertips.

The “Angel’s Gate” series can be viewed worldwide through its website, and participation is open to contestants across Asia. “Angel’s Gate” is already open to participation for season two.

Additional information about how “Angel’s Gate” uses Office 365 can be found on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight Newsroom.

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