Microsoft has announced that NowFloats Technologies and Aurus Networks will receive a grant of $30,000 while VDime Innovative Works and CipherGraphs Networks will receive a grant of $15,000, in the recently concluded BizSpark startup challenge. The company provided a total grant of $97, 000 including a $1000 grant each to four runners-up in the cloud category and three runners-up in the mobile category. There were a total of 16 finalists across two categories - Cloud and Mobile. Here is the list of finalists that presented at the event: Aurus Networks: Aurus Networks offers a cloud based virtual classroom solution which allows users to conduct HD-quality live audio/video interactive classes at low broadband speeds (around 200 kbps speeds). The solutions also offer an on-demand video archive, a web-based video editing interface, real-time analytics, integrated testing and performance tracking tools. It is available on a pay-per-user basis priced at $50 per user annually and on a pay-per-hour basis priced at $0.6 per hour. The company is currently targeting higher education institutes, distance education universities, training/coaching institutes and corporates as its customers and claims to have an ongoing pilot program at IIT Kanpur and tie-ups with more than 20 test prep and training centers including ACE Tutorials, NGPA College, Career Point and Quest Tutorials. NowFloats Technologies: NowFloats is a location based mobile service which looks to provide relevant and contextual information to users based on their current location and time. It currently offers an Android app and a mobile web version with iOS and Windows…
