Nexus, an innovation hub and business incubator for Indian start-ups, which has in less than a year nurtured start-ups working on cutting-edge technology solutions for sectors like healthcare and food processing, will now support women entrepreneurs in setting up businesses and get access to funding. Run by the US embassy in partnership with IC-squared Institute at the University of Texas-Austin, the Nexus start-up hub, since March 2017, has helped 20 Indian start-ups get training from top commercialisation across the globe as well as helped them get access to private and public fund managers specialising in supporting startups. The hub was launched on Thursday with the US embassy announcing that it will now provide training, mentoring, and networking opportunities specifically to female entrepreneurs throughout India. Elaborating on the programme, US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster said, “Women entrepreneurs represent a tremendous, largely untapped pool of talent for economic growth and prosperity. However, they often face barriers to building businesses that their male counterparts simply do not encounter. This programme is designed to support and empower women with entrepreneurial interests who are currently studying at India’s leading universities”.
To date, 20 start-ups have completed Nexus’ intensive 10-week pre-incubation programme and of which nine have been selected for the long-term incubation. The third cohort or batch of the pre-incubation programme began last month. Nexus has helped start-ups like Docturnal, which offers non-invasive screening and diagnostics tools for various ailments and provides real-time results, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning. Another notable start-up is S4S Technologies that works on food processing. Its solar-conduction dryer is being used by over 1,200 farmers across eight countries.
