86 international student teams reach the finals of Imagine Cup 2013

Microsoft Corporation has announced 86 student teams to travel to St. Petersburg for the finals of the 11th annual international competition Imagine Cup and, in case of winning, get prizes totaling $1M and other valuable rewards. The teams have bypassed their rivals in national stages of the competition, and will represent her countries in the international final of Imagine Cup 2013.

This year's competition involves the largest number of young people in its history - about 500K students, which is 70% more than in 2012. Imagine Cup Russia 2013 has received more than 3K applications with project ideas.

Imagine Cup projects aim to solve urgent social or business problems using Microsoft technologies in three main categories: innovations, social projects and games. There will be 86 student teams from 69 countries, including three teams from Russia, to compete at the international final, which will take place in St. Petersburg, Russia for the first time.

All teams can take part in various thematic competitions within Imagine Cup, in particular, Windows Azure Challenge, Windows Phone Challenge and Windows 8 App Challenge, etc. In contrast to competitions in the major Imagine Cup categories, these competitions are held online, and the best teams in each category are also eligible for the global finals to compete for prizes.