Los Angeles, CA. — November 17, 2009 — SocialGrow, a Microsoft BizSpark program member, today announced that it has opened registration for alpha users to test its first release of the SocialGrow Web and Mobile Phone Software Application. Developed on Windows Azure, SocialGrow’s Web and Mobile Phone Software Application will enable users to search for and connect with people online, both professionally and personally. Participants will be limited to the first 500 users who register on the SocialGrow website at: http://socialgrow.com.



“By leveraging Windows Azure and exciting new features in Windows 7 through the Microsoft BizSpark program, Social Grow was able to develop an application that automates the process of inviting people to join users’ online social networks,” said Marsh Sutherland, President of SocialGrow. “This makes it faster and easier for users to grow their connections across profile-based social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, and for users running Windows 7, sending an invitation to connect can be as quick and easy as highlighting the person’s e-mail address and right-clicking.”



“Windows Azure allows SocialGrow to be flexible and rapidly scale as it starts to build its customer base,” said Prashant Ketkar, senior director of product marketing for Windows Azure at Microsoft Corp. “Combined with reduced upfront hardware costs, Windows Azure lets SocialGrow developers focus their time on building innovative solutions instead of managing the underlying hardware infrastructure provisioning and scaling.”



SocialGrow was recently named the Microsoft BizSpark most promising “Start-Up of the Day”, and selected by MassHighTech (The Journal of New England Technology) as one of their “Five Start-Ups You Should Follow”. Additionally, SocialGrow’s Chief Marketing Officer Ken Herron was named one of the “Top 10 Chief Marketing Officers in North America” by Systemic Marketing for SocialGrow’s use of Twitter on @SocialGrow (http://twitter.com/socialgrow).