The US Embassy announced the launch of the Nexus Startup Hub at the American Centre in New Delhi. The initiative aims to foster the startup ecosystem in India and bring the best American practices in entrepreneurship and incubation.

Since its inauguration, 20 startups have completed the 10-week pre-incubation programme and of these, nine startups have been selected for long term incubation. The two Nexus Initiatives announced for 2018 will provide training, mentoring and networking opportunities to women entrepreneurs across the country and also expand the programme to neighbouring countries.

“We have got a grant from the State Department (USA) for the ‘Aspiring Women’. This programme is to support women with entrepreneurial interests at an early stage, who are currently studying in Indian universities. It will help those who want to be entrepreneurs but do not know how to go about it,” said Erik Azulay, Director, Nexus Startup Hub.

Speaking about the response to the Nexus initiative, Azulay said, “The response to the Nexus programme has been positive and we have already seen some great results from our graduated cohorts of startups”. “The Nexus team is excited about engaging with the innovation ecosystems in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka and working to set up the same kind of active network we are building in Delhi,” he added.

The initiative’s third cohort of ten startups began the pre-incubation program at the end of January. Nexus is managed in partnership with the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas-Austin. The Nexus projects in India will have an impact on number of fields including financial technology and education. The Government has been working toward cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit in the country through initiatives like Startup India, Make in India etc.

(Picture courtesy: twitter.com)