GitHub to offer sponsor service to help Indian developers get financial backing

Microsoft’s code repository platform GitHub has rolled out its GitHub Sponsors service to Indian developers. Starting from now, Indian developers on the platform can sign up for Sponsors to receive the financial backing they need for their projects. GitHub announced today that Indian developers will no longer be “waitlisted” for signing up on the GitHub Sponsors Explore platform. This platform offers a browser view of all projects on GitHub for interested parties to discover what’s in the works and what appeals to them.

Sponsors, both individuals and organisations, can choose to sponsor individual developers or organisations. In a detailed developer fact sheet, GitHub said that while sponsorships made by individuals would not be charged any platform fee, organisations wll have to pay a 10 per cent charge to developers for sponsorship.

“Anyone who contributes to an open source project and lives in a supported region is eligible to become a sponsored developer. Contributions include but are not limited to bug reports, issue triage, code, documentation, leadership, business development, project management, mentorship, and design,” GitHub said speaking about the eligibility criteria for the program.

Eligible Indian developers can now set up their sponsored profiles and add bank account details to receive funds from sponsors globally.

While announcing this Sponsor program, GitHub mentioned that Indian developers constitute the second largest demographic on the platform with over 8 million developers belonging to this country. The platform added that over the past one year, Indian developers have made over 200 million contributions across 10 million projects worldwide. As of November 2021, GitHub had 72 million developers on its platform and it expects the numbers to cross 100 million over the next three years.

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