Delhi has right mix, so was chosen for Nexus: US official

NEW DELHI: New Delhi was chosen for hosting Nexus -- a US government-funded platform for enabling and encouraging startups in India -- as it has “all the right components” needed for such initiatives, says its director.

Nexus Director, Erik Azulay, who moved here from Austin to set up and run the centre, said “Delhi is the pilot” and the vision now is to expand the footprint to other parts of India and South Asia.

“Delhi has all the right components, you have the entrepreneurs, the funders, the government, the capital and other complementary factors. We saw an ecosystem here which was needed for starting this initiative,” he told PTI.

Asked if other cities were considered before selecting Delhi, Azulay said, “We did look at other cities, including Bengaluru, but we chose Delhi. Delhi is the pilot... From here on, we see our future in more Indian cities, and other parts of South Asia.” Under the ‘Nexus’ platform, 10 cohorts (start-ups) were chosen from 115 applications from all over India.

Workshop

An intense 10-week training programme followed that featured workshops conducted by expert and industry leaders from the two countries.

Nearly half of these innovations were further picked up last week for incubation under the programme, which the US government runs in partnership with the University of Texas in Austin through its IC2 Institute, a “think and do” tank.

Research unit

IC2 (Innovation, Creativity & Capital) Institute is an interdisciplinary research unit of the university which works to advance the theory and practice of entrepreneurial wealth creation. Nexus, hosted in the American Center building here, resembles a mini-classroom at the University of Texas, with organised desks, laptops, whiteboards and Longhorn pinnates on walls, evoking the atmosphere.

“This place on the first floor of the Center was initially housing the library, which has been shifted downstairs. The next cohorts would be starting this fall (autumn season).

“We are also hopeful of the formal launch of Nexus facility sometime in September,” said Azulay, himself an entrepreneur, who has been part of the IC2.

Counselor for Cultural Affairs at the US Embassy, Craig L Dicker says, “Nexus is our way of bringing the various stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem together to work in a concerted way.”