Nexus Start-Up Hub 2.0

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Background: There is a strong desire across business sectors in India to study and adapt the skills and values of the American entrepreneurial ecosystem. With the goal of building cultural and economic bridges between individuals and companies in the start-up space, Nexus Start-up Hub at the American Center New Delhi opened in Spring 2017. Nexus quickly established itself as a leader in sharing American best practices with Indian entrepreneurs – male and female – from across India. The Public Affairs Section in New Delhi plans to continue providing this expertise, preparing these future business leaders to engage with Indo-Pacific investors and business partners, especially those from the United States, while also broadening the scope of Nexus to reach a larger, more diverse audience. Nexus annually recruits and trains three cohorts of 10 to 15 start-up companies per 10-week residential session. To date, the Nexus Start-up Hub at the American Center New Delhi has produced 97 companies or “graduates” in its alumni network. Nexus graduates have raised more than $6 million in funding. In addition to creating more than 1,000 new jobs, Nexus graduates have generated more than $4.7 million in revenue. They have also concluded 28 deals with U.S. companies. In 2019, Nexus led short, 2.5-day entrepreneurship training workshops in four other cities across India. Also in 2019, Nexus conducted a targeted 2-day entrepreneurship workshop in Hyderabad for startups working in the defense/military sector, in conjunction with a business/government leaders’ conference highlighting U.S.-India cooperation in the defense sector. India currently hosts more than 400 incubators across the country. Indian entrepreneurs are hungry for the guidance, strategic support, and skill-building that incubators may offer. As a result of some initial engagement with incubator managers in 2019, we have observed greater interest and opportunity to engage more broadly with incubator managers across India. There is great scope to engage with this community by providing knowledge and training in state-of-the-art American incubator management and utilizing this platform to extend the reach of American entrepreneurship expertise. Proposed Project: To implement a full-time, India-wide residential incubator hub at the American Center New Delhi; organize regional entrepreneurship workshops across India in critical economic sectors such as health/pharmaceuticals/biotechnology, defense/military, agriculture, and higher education; and develop a series of training seminars for incubator managers across India. This project has a target start date of January 1, 2021. (Please refer to the full announcement available under 'related documents tab')

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