Microsoft ups its Garage program, adding three new locations for a total of seven

In the next few years, Microsoft will add three new locations for its Microsoft Garage program. Launched in 2013, The Garage in Redmond, Washington is the flagship location. Since that time, two other locations have opened; Vancouver, BC in June 2016 and Herzliya, Israel in July 2016. The fourth location, The Silicon Valley Garage is currently open and plans to host an official grand opening celebration in the next few months.

Currently under construction, the other three new Garage locations will be open in the next few years. In the next few months, The Garage in Beijing, China will be open. Later this year, The Garage in Hyderabad, India will open, and The Garage in Cambridge, Massachusetts will open in early 2018.

Each Microsoft Garage location will be outfitted with the latest Microsoft technology and resources to help the local community build, create, and, perhaps most importantly, code. Microsoft chooses Garage locations based on the highest number of Microsoft employees that have interest in participating in innovation. Microsoft also hopes to build strong connections to local tech and higher education communities.

Jeff Ramos, Microsoft’s leader of The Garage, acknowledges that Microsoft uses The Garage program as a recruiting tool to attract students to help Microsoft grow and innovate its products and services.

“That’s a key advantage of Garage locations that we don’t always talk about. Through Garages, we mutually share knowledge and insights with business, government, and educational institutions that are of strategic interest for us. We’re getting access to the best and brightest engineering talent from local universities and the surrounding communities. That’s invaluable to us.”