ACIR receives extension of Nexus Incubator Program through 2020

ACIR was awarded a 7 month contract extension to run the Nexus startup hub and incubation program based at the American Center in New Delhi.

Nexus serves as a central hub for entrepreneurs, innovators, mentors, government agencies, industry players and funding organizations to promote Indian startups, to showcase best practices of American and Indian entrepreneurship, and to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem.  The Nexus project supports innovators through training and mentorship programs, links them to potential American and Indian investors and features the incubator as a living model for best practices.

Erik Azulay, president of ACIR, moved to Delhi in 2017 to create the Nexus program and has managed it ever since.  “We are glad to continue our work with the U.S. Embassy on bringing American best practices in entrepreneurship and incubation to India and to link promising Indian startups with U.S. businesses.  Nexus has graduated over 95 Indian startups since we began this program and those startups have gone on to raise over $6 million USD in outside funding and have created over 1000 jobs.  Nexus is now recognized as one of the premier business incubators in India and is being asked to conduct training programs for other incubator managers; a strong validation of ACIR’s methodology and best practices in incubation.  We are glad to be the face of the U.S. Embassy’s commitment to supporting the Indian innovation ecosystem and joint U.S. Indian prosperity.”

Although there are challenges to running an entrepreneurship program during a pandemic, ACIR successfully transitioned the ninth cohort to an online platform and on graduation, welcomed those startups into the Nexus family.