The New York University (NYU) Tandon School of Engineering Future Labs and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) Incubators announced on November 1st a partnership to jointly support entrepreneurial activity and tech startups. Both universities serve as startup hubs driving early-stage business activity, and this three-year partnership allows each university to access the other’s resources, with NYU Tandon companies able to explore the Indian market while IITK startups have access to Future Labs for mentoring and support.
The agreement builds upon NYU Tandon’s reputation as a launch pad for international startups seeking to enter American markets, with additional collaboration from Turkish, Canadian, and German startup centers. IITK, through shared resources from NYU Tandon, is positioned as a major driver in the startup landscape of India, a rapidly growing ecosystem said to be one of the largest in the world, with 20,000 startups valued at $75 billion.
Kurt H. Becker, vice dean for research at Tandon, talked about the benefits of the partnership, saying, “This collaboration will provide important opportunities to Future Lab entrepreneurs in a vibrant and dynamic new locale while inspiring IITK startups to join New York’s burgeoning innovation economy. We are thrilled to launch this international venture with a new partner who shares our understanding of the importance of tech entrepreneurship and its role in moving academic research to the marketplace, where it can directly benefit society.”
Both schools have a close relationship in areas outside innovation and entrepreneurship via a seven year agreement in which IITK and NYU Tandon establishing collaborative research in the area of cyber security. As a result of this, IITK’s India-wide Cyber Security Awareness Week games spread to NYU Tandon, becoming the largest student-run cyber security event in the world.
