Microsoft opens $20 million 'Reactor' startup hub in London

Microsoft last week opened up a new $20 million startup space in London. The hub, which is the latest to join the lineup of Microsoft's Reactor spaces located in major cities, is intended "help the UK remain the home of technology innovation in Europe," Microsoft said in its announcement.

The Reactor will see an investment from Microsoft totaling $20 million over the next 10 years. The space itself will offer free office space to foster growth for startup companies, in addition to playing host to hackathons, talks, meetups, and more.

"This space is specially designed and located in the heart of Shoreditch to help us connect better with the technology start-up and scale-up community, offer access to Microsoft's technology, platform and tools, and connect [businesses] with our enterprise customers and partners," said Microsoft UK CEO Cindy Rose. "There are very few companies we don't work with and that's the great advantage of partnering with us, as well as the technology platform we provide."

Microsoft says that this is the first Reactor space to open in Europe. Other Reactors are already open in New York, Redmond, and San Francisco, and more are planned to open in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere around the world. The opening of the UK Reactor also comes shortly after the tech giant kicked off Microsoft for Startups, a $500 million program meant to assist startups with technology, marketing assistance, and more.