Lilidi Accepted into Microsoft for Startups and Receives Azure AI Credits

Lilidi AI has been accepted into the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub and granted Azure credits toward AI infrastructure. The programme gives early-stage companies access to cloud compute, AI services, developer tooling and technical guidance - the same building blocks we already use to run generation at scale.

What Lilidi received

• Azure credits to spend on AI and cloud infrastructure;
• Access to Azure AI services for inference, storage and delivery;
• Developer tooling and technical support from the Founders Hub programme;
• Go-to-market and community resources available to Founders Hub startups.

Why it matters for the product

Everything visible in Lilidi - image and video generation, voice and audio, the poster and logo studios, and the Lilidi Twin that talks to customers in real time - sits on top of a compute bill. Credits reduce the cost of the layer users never see, which lets us keep doing the two things we care about most: showing the honest price of a generation before you run it, and adding new flagship models without raising prices.

Concretely, the credits go toward faster queue throughput at peak hours, more headroom for long-running video jobs, and the real-time infrastructure behind live Twin calls.

A pattern, not a one-off

This follows a run of external validation over the past months: joining the Google for Startups Cloud Program, an invitation to the ALPHA programme at Web Summit Lisbon 2026, and selection for the TechBBQ Startup Showcase in Copenhagen. Different programmes, same signal: a multi-model creative workspace with transparent pricing reads clearly to people outside our own team.

From the founder

"Infrastructure is the quiet half of an AI product," says Tetiana Stepanets, founder and CEO of Lilidi AI. "Support from Microsoft for Startups means more of every euro goes into models, quality and speed for the people actually creating with Lilidi."

FAQ

What is the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub?

It is Microsoft's programme for early-stage companies, providing Azure cloud and AI credits, developer tools, technical guidance and go-to-market resources. Startups apply directly; there is no investor referral requirement.

Does this change Lilidi's pricing?

No. Pricing stays as published on the pricing page. The credits lower our infrastructure cost, which helps us hold prices while adding models.

Does Lilidi now run only on Azure?

No. Lilidi is multi-cloud and multi-provider by design, and routes each generation to the provider best suited to the job.

Does this mean Microsoft invested in Lilidi?

No. Programme participation is not investment, partnership or endorsement.

Try it

Talk to a live Lilidi Twin or see how it works.

Microsoft, Azure and Microsoft for Startups are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Programme participation does not imply investment, partnership or endorsement.