Request for Re-Evaluation of Azure Startup Verification for MedhaLink AI— Free Zone License Number Format Issue (Masdar City)

Question

Dear Azure Startup Team,

I hope you are doing well.

I am writing to request a re-evaluation of my Azure startup verification for my project Adhamic AI, registered under Masdar City Free Zone, UAE.

Initially, I received $1,000 in Azure credits, but the full $5,000 startup credits were not approved because my startup verification could not be validated. The issue arose due to the license number format used by my Free Zone — it issues a five-digit license number, whereas your verification system expects a 14-digit registration format.

To clarify, my company is officially registered and operating under Masdar City Free Zone, and I have already provided supporting documentation including:

My latest UAE tax filing details and tax ID,

The official company portal <PII> and

My LinkedIn company profile <PII>

Since this is a genuine UAE-based registered entity, I kindly request your team to revisit the verification process and consider granting the full startup credits.

If you need additional information or documents, please let me know — I would be happy to provide them privately, as I prefer not to share sensitive details publicly.

Thank you for your time and understanding. I truly appreciate your support in helping startups like ours leverage Azure for innovation.

Warm regards,

Praveen Kumar Bommali

Answer 1

Hello @Praveen Kumar Bommali

I understand why this situation can be confusing, especially when your company is legitimately registered and you have already received the initial Azure startup credits.

To clarify how this works from the Azure side: after the initial $1,000 Azure startup credit is applied, Microsoft requires an additional business verification step to unlock the remaining credits (up to $5,000 total). This verification is handled by the Microsoft for Startups (Founders Hub) verification system, not directly by Azure support.

https://portal.startups.microsoft.com/

The verification process relies on automated checks against official business registration details. In some regions—particularly Free Zones like Masdar City, UAE—the license or registration number format does not match the standard format expected by the automated system (for example, a shorter Free Zone license number instead of a longer national registration number). When this happens, the automated check may fail even though the company is valid and active.

This does not mean the business is ineligible. It simply means the case needs to be manually reviewed by the Microsoft for Startups verification team. For privacy and security reasons, this manual review can only be triggered by submitting a request through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub support portal, where official documents can be uploaded securely. Azure portal tickets or Microsoft Q&A posts cannot override or approve startup verification decisions.

Once the verification team reviews and confirms the submitted documents, the remaining Azure startup credits are automatically applied to the existing Azure Sponsorship subscription.

Links :
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/signups/overview

I understand how important these credits are when you’re actively building and scaling your solution, and I appreciate your patience while this is reviewed. The good news is that this scenario is well‑known with Free Zone registrations and is typically resolved once the verification team completes a manual review.

if you have any questions while submitting the request, please feel free to add a comment in the Comment section, and we’ll be happy to help you further and get back to you.

Thanks,
Manish.