The answer appears to be: yes you must be a privately held company. The FAQs for Microsoft for Startups [1] list the following requirements: - You must be eng

The answer appears to be: yes you must be a privately held company. The FAQs for Microsoft for Startups [1] list the following requirements: - You must be engaged in development of a software-based product or service that will form a core piece of you current or intended business - this software must be owned, not licensed. - You cannot have received more than $10,000 of free Azure in the past. - Your headquarters must reside in the countries covered by our Azure global infrastructure. - You must be a privately held company. - You must operate a public website on your own domain. - Your contact email address domain must match your public website. - Your funding information must be verifiable. The FAQs also add that: > The qualified offer is designed to help companies that are focused on growth, so it’s less applicable for consultancies and small businesses. If you are a small business or consultancy you can get started with a free trial. [1]: https://startups.microsoft.com/en-us/benefits/#faq https://startups.microsoft.com/en-us/benefits/#faq Note also that Microsoft’s new offer is for GitHub Enterprise Cloud, not self-hosted GitHub Enterprise. GitLab is probably your best bet for a self-hosted GitHub alternative. [2] [2]: https://about.gitlab.com/install/ https://about.gitlab.com/install/