Microsoft for Startups changed extension criteria mid-program, what now?

We’re an AI startup building enterprise software that joined Microsoft for Startups in December 2023. The program initially offered clear criteria for extending the $25k startup credits to $150k: use >50% credits and complete the verification checklist. We migrated our entire infrastructure from AWS to Azure based on this promise, investing significant engineering resources into the migration and building our stack around Azure services.

Mid-program, Microsoft silently introduced an “Engagement Score” as a new requirement. We first noticed this in September, though it might have been added earlier. Despite growing our Azure usage significantly since our spring 2024 launch (including Azure Container Apps, Azure Document Intelligence, Azure AI Studio, and various other services), the dashboard keeps showing our score to be low and that we’re “unlikely” to qualify for extension.

Support has been unable to explain how this score works or what specific actions we need to take to improve it. Their only suggestion was to “try some AI features” – which we already extensively use. Multiple follow-up emails asking for clarification or escalation have gone unanswered.

Our sponsorship ends in two weeks, we’ve used most credits, and Microsoft support has stopped responding to our inquiries about getting clarity on the situation. The lack of transparency and sudden change in criteria feels like a bait-and-switch.

Has anyone else experienced this with the Microsoft for Startups program? Any advice on how to escalate this or get in touch with someone who can help or explain? We’re particularly interested in:

  1. Understanding if others have encountered this new “Engagement Score”
  2. If anyone has successfully extended their credits/sponsorship
  3. Contacts at Microsoft who could review our case