Global Indian traces the journeys of some of these Indian-American entrepreneurs who are making all the right waves on the global platform and heading some of America’s most promising companies.

Global Indianstory5 Indian Americans helming some of Silicon Valley’s most successful ventures

Entrepreneurship

5 Indian Americans helming some of Silicon Valley’s most successful ventures

Written by: Global Indian

In the cut-throat world of Silicon Valley where startups bloom ever so often, the race to the top is fierce. But several Indian-Americans are ahead of the curve in shepherding some of the US’ most innovative ventures, some that have gone on to become unicorns and even publicly-listed companies According to Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends of 2018, startups founded or co-founded by Indian-origin entrepreneurs were among the most highly valued private tech companies in the US. Over the years, several Indian-Americans have shot to the big league in Silicon Valley, the hotbed of global innovation.

Global Indian traces the journeys of contemporary Indian-American entrepreneurs who are making waves, especially during the pandemic.

Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood

Indian-American CEOs at the helm of Silicon Valley's most successful startups

Baiju Bhatt

The eight-year-old no-brokerage stock trading app has over 13 million users and is valued at more than $40 billion. The company, which is planning to go public later this year, was founded by Baiju Bhatt and his friend from Stanford University, Vladimir Tenev. The app lets users invest in top stocks of major companies gained immense popularity with millennials who earlier might have felt intimidated at the prospect of investing in the stock market.

The COVID-19 pandemic, especially, saw the app gain 3 million users and a 250% increase in revenue since 2019. 37-year-old Bhatt who grew up in eastern Virginia was born to immigrant parents from Gujarat. His parents moved to the US in 1984, when his father Praful Bhatt enrolled for a Ph.D. program in theoretical physics at the University of Huntsville in Alabama. The family eventually moved to Poquoson where Bhatt completed his high school and relocated to the West Coast for his under graduation in physics at Standford University. He stayed on at Stanford to earn his Master’s in Mathematics and it was here that he and Tenev became roommates and friends. The duo had earlier launched two companies in New York before striking gold with Robinhood.

Bhatt’s idea for Robinhood stemmed from the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests; offering no brokerage stock trading, the app cuts out the high fees charged by stockbrokers, which otherwise makes investing in stocks feel like an intimidating experience for those with low funds. In 2020, Bhatt stepped down as the company’s CEO to focus on product development, stated a report in Forbes.

Rohan Seth, Clubhouse

Rohan Seth and his daughter Lydia

Launched in 2019, Clubhouse was founded by Indian American Rohan Seth and Paul Davidson. The invitation-only social media app gained traction early on in the pandemic when people realized the need for human interaction like never before. Some of its most noted users include the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Within a year of raising funding, Clubhouse went on to become a unicorn and now has more than 8 million downloads.

The founders met when they were studying in Stanford University and after a string of failed businesses decided to give Clubhouse one last try. The app clicked and the two are on their path to success. Incidentally, Seth a New Delhi boy, who did his early schooling in India’s capital city, first worked with tech giant Google for six years before trying his hand at entrepreneurship. He met Davidson when he was looking for funding for Lydian Accelerator, an open-source platform that aims to customize genetic treatments for children born with severe genetic mutations. Seth and his wife Jennifer named the Accelerator after their daughter Lydia, who was born with a rare genetic mutation that causes mental and physical impairments. On his Medium page, he wrote, “We were told her disease was too rare, and there was no treatment, but neither is true.” His daughter is now undergoing gene-silencing treatments.

Apoorva Mehta, Instacart

Apoorva Mehta

Backed by marquee investors such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures, grocery delivery and pick-up startup Instacart came as a godsend for many American users during the pandemic. The company recently signed pacts with grocery majors such as Loblaws, Alberstons, Kroger, Costco and CVS and reached a valuation of $39 billion in March 2021. Founded in 2012 by Apoorva Mehta, Max Mullen, and Brandon Leonardo, Instacart saw a drastic increase in profits during the pandemic when social distancing and lockdowns forced a change in lifestyles.

Mehta, a former Amazon employee, was born in India and moved with his family to Canada in 2000. He studied engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario from where he graduated in 2008. He also worked with companies such as Blackberry and Qualcomm, before branching off on his own. Before he struck gold with Instacart, Mehta had launched over 20 startups ranging from an ad network for social gaming companies to a social network specifically for lawyers. In 2013, he was featured in the Forbes 30-under-30 list. In 2016, he made to America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 list and in 2021 he was included in the TIME100 Next. Interestingly, Mehta had quit his job at Amazon after he found the work environment to be “slow and bureaucratic”. Today, Amazon has become one of Instacart’s biggest competitors.

Jay Chaudhry, Zscaler

Jay Chaudhry

Cybersecurity firm Zscaler was co-founded by 62-year-old Jay Chaudhry in 2007 and its two most popular products Zscaler Private Access and Zscaler Internet Access help provide secure access to locally hosted apps and external apps. It had an initial public offering in 2018 where it raised $192 million; in 2020 it purchased cloud security management startup Cloudneeti. Today, the company is listed on NASDAQ and is worth $28 billion.

Chaudhry, who owns 45% stake in the company, grew up in Panoh in Himachal Pradesh. As a child, he had no access to electricity and would study under the trees. In an interview with The Tribune, he said that would walk nearly 4 kilometers each day to attend school in the neighboring village. He went on to study at IIT-Varanasi before moving to the US for his MBA from the University of Cincinnati. Chaudhry then worked in sales and marketing at companies such as IBM, Unisys, and IQ Software for 25 years, before launching his own company. Today, Zscaler is the leader in cloud security, developing the world’s largest cloud-native security platform. Chaudhry’s estimate net worth of $13 billion has made him the ninth richest Indian in the world.

KR Sridhar, Bloom Energy

KR Sridhar

Founded in 2001 by KR Sridhar, Bloom Energy worked in stealth mode before coming out in 2010. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company manufactures solid oxide fuel cells that produce electricity on site. It raised more than $1 billion in venture capital funding before going public in 2018. Its fuel cells are subsidized by government incentive programs for green energy.

Born in Tamil Nadu, Sridhar graduated in mechanical engineering from NIT, Tiruchirapalli 39 years back before moving to the US for his MS in nuclear engineering and PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He founded Bloom with the aim to make clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone. He initially led a project to build a device for NASA using solar power and water from Mars to produce oxygen. When it was canceled, he worked on reversing the process to use oxygen and hydrogen to produce electricity instead. On his website, Sridhar writes, “The growing demand for essential electricity and the knowledge that the climate cannot sustain the status quo requires that we rethink how to shape this transforming global marketplace.”

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Published on 28, Jun 2021

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Neeraj Kakkar: The man who’s keeping traditions and memories alive, one drink at a time

(July 28, 2021; 6.15 pm) What are some of your earliest memories? We bet it involves happy times spent with your family and friends over some cherished food or beverage. For instance, it could be chugging a chilled glass of buttermilk after a summer afternoon spent playing in the sun with cousins. Or it could be haggling with the neighborhood chaat wala for an extra cup of spicy golgappe ka paani. Or sneaking into the kitchen to take a swig from that jug of sherbet your mother had prepared especially for the guests due to arrive at any moment. Somehow, memories and food go hand in hand. For Neeraj Kakkar, co-founder of Hector Beverages, it was this need to keep alive traditional recipes and innocent memories that drove him to launch the Paper Boat range of juices. Made with all natural ingredients just the way our mothers and grandmothers did all those years back, the Paper Boat range offers 13 varieties of traditional Indian drinks. These range from the much-oved aamras, aam panna, neer mor, panakkam, chilli guava, thandai, sherbet-e-khaas, rose tamarind, and kokum. [embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clTxVEqpGtE[/embed] How it all began As a young boy growing up in Haryana, Kakkar was especially fond

aam panna, neer mor, panakkam, chilli guava, thandai, sherbet-e-khaas, rose tamarind, and kokum.

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clTxVEqpGtE[/embed]

How it all began

As a young boy growing up in Haryana, Kakkar was especially fond of Kaanji, a drink made of fermented purple carrots and mustard. His family lived in a large house that also accommodated several other families; their landlady Maati would painstakingly make a large pot of kaanji and place it in the patio. Each child was given a glass... one glass strictly. The drink was delicious and Kakkar always wanted more. He resorted to swiping an extra glass for himself when nobody was watching. When he was caught, of course, he got into trouble, he said during a TED talk.

Several years later, as a young man, Kakkar wanted to drink kaanji again; the flavors still fresh in his mind. He also wanted to introduce it in his line of products at Paper Boat, the company he had launched in August 2013 along with Neeraj Biyani, James Nutall, and Suhas Misra under the parent company Hector Beverages. The idea for Paper Boat came up during an office lunch between the co-founders as they mulled over potential business ideas. Commercial production of traditional Indian drinks was hitherto unheard of in a market that was largely dominated by carbonated beverages.

Paper Boat launched with two products: Aam Ras and Jaljeera; both well-known and well-loved across India. The idea took off and today the company offers several more varieties, some of them seasonal. The name Paper Boat too was specifically chosen to invoke a feeling of nostalgia. In 2016, Kakkar had famously said that every product launched by his company would have a tinge of Indianness; and the company has so far stayed true to his word.

[embed]http://twitter.com/paperboatdrinks/status/1405453555801083907?s=20[/embed]

From Haryana to the US and back

Interestingly, Kakkar had worked for nearly seven years with Coca Cola in India, before he did his MBA from The Wharton School in Philadelphia where he was a Palmer Scholar, one of the highest academic honors. He co-founded Hector Beverages with Biyani, Misra and Nutall in 2009 and they began manufacturing Tzinga, an energy drink. The company was backed by Narayan Murthy’s VC firm Catamaran and Bangalore-based Footprint Ventures had also invested ₹6 crore. By 2013, the company had raised a second round of funding of $8 million from Sequoia Capital and Paper Boat was launched later that year.

The team was bent on preserving traditional recipes and spent quite a few months on R&D. As they expanded their product portfolio, Kakkar still wanted to introduce his beloved Kaanji into the market. However, to his surprise the market was overtaken by the common orange and red varieties of carrots and farmers had all but stopped growing purple carrots. The teams research led them to find that purple carrots were being grown in Turkey. So Kakkar flew to Turkey, filled up a suitcase with 20 kgs of purple carrots and flew back to Delhi... only to have his entire stock confiscated. Crushed, Kakkar did the next best thing. He began importing purple carrot seeds from Turkey and had them planted in three cities: Palampur, Ujjain and Ooty. After 13 continuous trials they finally got a crop in Ooty and the company set about producing Kaanji. It's a different story that the drink didn’t pass the quality test and had to be temporarily shelved.

[caption id="attachment_6215" align="aligncenter" width="499"] For Neeraj Kakkar it was this need to keep alive traditional recipes and memories that drove him to launch the Paper Boat range of juices. Neeraj Kakkar[/caption]

Mentors who shaped him

While initially retailers were sceptical to stock the Paper Boat line, the drink eventually grew in popularity and is now available through various channels. But for Kakkar, who has been reinventing the whole ethnic beverage industry, there are key lessons he’s learnt from three mentors who shaped his perception of entrepreneurship. “First, Kanwaljit Singh, co-founder at Helion ventures, exposed me to the world of entrepreneurship during my internship period there. Kanwal encouraged me to work with a few startups in Bangalore who were doing interesting jobs. He also recommended food to be the best sector to start; when Hector Beverages was launched, he became our angel investor,” said Kakkar in an interview in Medium.

The second was Shripad Nadkarni, head of marketing at Coca Cola, and Kakkar’s former colleague, who helped them with the marketing and branding of the company. And the third was Narayana Murthy. “I would say the value system of our organization in some ways is a reflection of his personality. He has also been with us from day zero. He doesn’t interfere with our day-to-day work — he doesn’t tell us about what to do with our strategy, however on the value system, he has always had strong viewpoints and he kind of makes sure that we do not deviate from the right path,” he says.

Challenges to overcome

While the company saw an uptake in sales in FY2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Paper Boat sales in a large way, given the lockdowns and travel restrictions. Airports and Railway stations were important touch points for the brand. While production was completely halted for a brief period in 2020, it gradually resumed as the lockdowns eased. Now, the company is looking to expand its online-only range of products in a bid to thwart the effects of the pandemic and its resultant losses.

Reading Time: 10 mins

CONGLOMERATES: The Indian behind much of Oman’s infrastructure

(Our Contributor, May 6) Entrepreneur-turned-industrialist-turned-philanthropist Dr P Mohamed Ali hardly needs an introduction. Almost 50 years since he set up Galfar, the engineering firm, in Oman, Dr Ali’s business has spread across countries. But at the core of the conglomerate – with deep interest in construction, manufacturing, hospitality, real estate, education et al − is what Dr Ali says, “creating value”. With this vision, Dr Ali began working on a foundation that could inspire youths not only in Oman but also in his hometown Thalikulam in Thrissur, and in Kerala to pursue their dreams. Established in 1988, PM Foundation has been supporting hundreds of economically weaker yet meritorious students across the country through fellowships, scholarships and cash awards. Years before the government came up with educational loan, the foundation began doling out interest-free financial assistance to students. It has also facilitated tuition for civil services and other competitive exams in engineering, medical, chartered accountancy among others. Before leaving India for Dubai, Dr Ali worked with General Reserve Engineering Force, under the Ministry of Defence of Mizohill, now renamed as Mizoram, for three years. Unlike most of the people of his generation, Dr Ali wanted to do something on his

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Before leaving India for Dubai, Dr Ali worked with General Reserve Engineering Force, under the Ministry of Defence of Mizohill, now renamed as Mizoram, for three years. Unlike most of the people of his generation, Dr Ali wanted to do something on his own, and with that dream of entrepreneurship, he set foot in Dubai.

In an interview, Dr Ali, the first recipient of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman of the Government of India, said that he had sought the ethos of India to attain a global height through his initiative of PM International. While on one hand, Galfar constructed roads and modern buildings in an arid land of Oman to reshape its infrastructure, on the other his endeavours back home in India through MFAR created thousands of job opportunities in a wide spectrum from technology park to five-star hotels. In the process, the visionary could come up with India’s first producer of activated carbon and universities and schools, as well.

In early 2001, almost 30 years after Dr Ali began his journey as an entrepreneur, realized the need for empowering youths with proper education to remain relevant in the new millennium. With some like-minded people, he initiated the foundation stone of non-profit trust, Social Advancement Foundation of India (SAFI). It gave birth to SAFI Institute of Advanced Study (SIAS) in Vazhayur near Kozhikode in 2005 with Dr Ali as the current chairman (emeritus) of the board. This institute, in its undergraduate, postgraduate and research courses, reflects the vision of Dr Ali, who feels brilliance in studies can make a person excel in the work life too. If PM Foundation helps students aspire to be global Indian, SIAS takes care of them to turn the thoughts into action for a fruitful future.

Looking at the healthcare infrastructure in Kerala, Dr Ali – arguably the 12th richest Indian now – initiated medical assistance through PM Foundation and partner NGOs who would take care of the needy patients. At heart, Dr Ali is still the modest Indian who dreamed big and did bigger. “If you are fearless and honest in your action, you can conquer the world. You can do it with the attitude to gratitude, the principle of giving back to the society,” signs off Dr Ali.

Reading Time: 5 mins

Mukti Bosco: The Indian social entrepreneur who is changing lives with her healing touch

(September 2, 2021) Twenty years ago Mukti Bosco, then a post graduate student in health management, was on a field visit to Hyderabad’s Charminar area. She struck up a conversation with some women from the area and asked them what they would do in the face of an unforeseen emergency, most of them said that they would mortgage their assets. But it was one woman’s response that changed Bosco’s perspective forever: she told Bosco that she had to pull her six-year-old son out from school and send him to work at a tea shop as she had borrowed ₹5,000 for her husband’s typhoid treatment. The incident moved her so much that Bosco decided she didn’t want to be a mere bystander, she wanted to do something to change things - and Healing Fields Foundation (HFF) was born. Headquartered in Hyderabad, HFF has been providing training and support for women as health change agents in their communities. The Foundation works in rural areas of poorer states to impact change in the areas with the greatest need. From working to prevent health problems and facilitate access to health services and entitlements from the government, HFF has been working across the sector and has done extensive pandemic relief work as well. In fact, HFF has recently been recognized

and Healing Fields Foundation (HFF) was born. Headquartered in Hyderabad, HFF has been providing training and support for women as health change agents in their communities. The Foundation works in rural areas of poorer states to impact change in the areas with the greatest need. From working to prevent health problems and facilitate access to health services and entitlements from the government, HFF has been working across the sector and has done extensive pandemic relief work as well. In fact, HFF has recently been recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of India’s Top 50 COVID-19 Last Mile Responders.

[caption id="attachment_9131" align="aligncenter" width="575"] Indian social entrepreneur Mukti Bosco Mukti Bosco[/caption]

Rocky beginnings

Growing up with medical professionals at home - her father being an eye doctor and her mother a nurse - Bosco knew she would also follow in their footsteps. But her path was unclear until she finished her degree from Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore. "That is when I knew what I wanted to do something for the society," recalls Bosco in an exclusive chat with Global Indian. She graduated in Occupational Therapy from Vellore and later completed her Master's degree in Healthcare Management from the Administrative Staff College of India and John Hopkins University.

[caption id="attachment_9132" align="aligncenter" width="564"] HFF volunteers A Healing Fields Foundation CHE at work[/caption]

The Charminar incident shook Bosco more than she’d anticipated. "It broke my soul and that's how Healing Fields was conceptualized," she says. Mother to a 5-year-old son herself, Mukti resolved to do something in the health sector so that no underprivileged person had to sacrifice their children's future again.

The initial days of the Foundation were difficult. Few people took her seriously, but Bosco knew what she was doing. "When they saw I was determined, support started pouring in," smiles Bosco, who is also an Ashoka Fellow. With zero experience in the social sector, she stepped in with a positive mindset. "Social entrepreneurship is always in a startup mode and nothing can be taken for granted. I learnt most of it on the job," she says.

Working for impact

In the last twenty years, Bosco has been giving back to society by leading Healing Fields Foundation into several areas. From training and supporting health and hygiene initiatives for women in rural areas to training health professionals at the grassroots level and beyond, the aim has been to reach as many people as possible. Healing Fields has worked across the country in states like Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, and Jharkhand.

Healing Fields has so far has trained 5,000 community health entrepreneurs across 10 states, reaching 6.25 million people. This year, HFF plans to undertake a new project called TeleHealth. "This project aims to train a health leader to conduct basic health checks, as well as connect her to a network of clinics through a digital platform," says Bosco. "She will be therefore able to earn extra income for herself while bringing last-mile health services for her community," she adds.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usiLaSLakBg[/embed]

One evening in June, a health worker at the Healing Fields Foundation in Bihar received an urgent call from Bheriya village in Kaimur district. Around 20 children were vomiting and displaying symptoms of diarrhea in the village. Immediately, a team comprising Community Health Entrepreneur (CHE), the Gram Pradhan, Healing Fields staff, and the doctor was formed.

The CHE assessed every child who was unwell and advised the parents regarding maintaining hydration. ORS and medicines were given free of cost, and children with severe symptoms were shifted to a hospital. The team also coordinated with the local government officials and organized a health camp in the village to assess and identify the cause of the illness. It turned out that it was due to food served at a wedding.

The quick action by HFF meant that the problem was nipped in the bud. When a problem relates to children, the Foundation makes it a point to solve the problem as early as possible.

It may have been a twenty-year journey with Healing Fields Foundation, but for Bosco every day is new, filled with challenges and new ideas to serve the community.

Reading Time: 5 mins

Born in Chicago, settled in India, Anjum Babukhan set up a school that makes a difference

(October 7, 2021) Anjum Babukhan's is an unconventional story. Born and brought up in Chicago, she moved to India for her husband. But where she could've basked in the glory of her new life, she decided instead to channel her energies into branching out on her own. A keen learner herself, she found the education system in the country outdated and set out to make a change in her own small way. She founded Glendale Academy, a co-education school that laid an emphasis on holistic growth and a nurturing environment, in Hyderabad. The concept clicked and today, the brand has flourished into a chain of private schools that was ranked number 1 in Telangana and at number 8 in India by Education World. For close to three decades now, Anjum has striven to transform lives through education, which remains her top priority even today. Otherwise, the award-winning educationist can teach you a thing or two about martial art form like Tai Chi or Chinese exercise Qigong, show off her urban sketching skills and Yin-Yang art, display her Ikebana expertise, become a dance choreographer or wow people with her Zumba and Yoga moves. In everything that she does, Anjum sets the standards

e a dance choreographer or wow people with her Zumba and Yoga moves. In everything that she does, Anjum sets the standards high.

By leaps and bounds

“I do my best and let god do the rest,” smiles Anjum, settling down for an exclusive interview with Global Indian. Her desire to achieve and a passion to convert her dreams into reality led to the birth of Glendale Academy. She took off with one school in the early 2000s; 25 years later, Glendale has expanded by leaps and bounds.

“We now stand as number 1 in Telangana and top 10 in India; we are known for our pedagogy – the art of teaching and holistic curricular approach more than anything else," informs a beaming Anjum, the Director of Glendale, as she looks back at her illustrious journey.

From America to Hyderabad

Born and raised in Chicago in the United States in a conservative family, Anjum is the eldest of four siblings. Her Indian Muslim parents immigrated from Hyderabad in the 1970s. "I keep traversing between continents, cultures and conditions. Whether it was adapting as a bicultural child of immigrants in the US to moving halfway across the world to India and adjusting to the social constructs of the society here, I pick out elements of what I choose to harmonize in my symphony of multi-layered and multi-cultural being," says Anjum.

She was a high honor roll student, who won several scholarships on graduating from high school before she went on to study Psychology in the honors program at Loyola University, Chicago. While in her last year at the University, Anjum met an international student from Hyderabad, Salman Babukhan, whom she married after college. Anjum moved to India in 1995 after pursuing her Masters in Education Administration and Instructional Leadership at University of Illinois.

Entrepreneurial journey

Within months of her settling down in India, she discovered the education system here was outdated and rigid. She wanted to change things, so Anjum set out on a mission. "We wanted to create nurturing spaces that develop every child's multiple intelligence spectrum, physical capabilities, creative potential, 21st Century life skills and multicultural awareness. At Glendale, our focus has always been and remains on cultivating competence and character," she informs.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8i9DT5BbkI[/embed]

A lifelong learner, Anjum is not only keen on sharing her knowledge, but also adapts and evolves with the changing times. "Everyone changes and everyone evolves. From my teens, 20s, 30s, and now in my 40s, I have grown more effective in my career, confident in capacities, resilient in challenges and comfortable within my own being as time moves forward. In the biological paradigm, those who adapt not only survive, but thrive," says the mother of three.

Anjum has many feathers in her academic cap. Among them are the outstanding academic achievement awards in the Presidential Academic fitness awards program signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and President George HW Bush in 1990, as well as an "academic and leadership excellence" award presented by Hyderabad foundation of Chicago.

The eternal Global Indian

Describing herself as a Global Indian American Muslim, Anjum is constantly pushing the boundaries. Even now, she is strong in her academic pursuits in her quest for lifelong learning. With courses like Strategy in Action and Project Zero from Harvard, courses from Cambridge and recently a Design Thinking course from Stanford D school, she exemplifies her motto of learning every day. The visionary leader that she is, Anjum says she loves to learn anything that contributes to building her own multiple intelligence spectrum.

"One should explore their many sides across identities, capacities, cultures and ways of knowing the world. Every aspect one has in them can be channelized and optimized. There is no one like you and never will be. Be the best version of yourself always," she advises all those embarking on a journey. A globetrotter, Anjum says she keeps wanting to bridge the best of both worlds with what she likes and lives in both places. "I guess we are all travelers in this world," says Anjum, who is also a TEDx speaker.

Global Indian Anjum Babukhan

Staying true to her roots

With an experience of over two and half decades in implementing the best teaching methodologies, she has also authored a book, ABCs of Brain Compatible Learning, which is a guide for all educators.

The one Indian-ness, she says, that remains with her is the Hindustani language, be it Urdu or Hindi, which is a way to know, enjoy and be enriched by culture. "Nothing can be as colorful and vibrant as ethnic apparel and accessories. But even if I feel comfortable with the secular and pluralistic ideals of countries I call my own, my belonging may be questioned by the right-wing powers of the majority at times, whether it is in the US or India," says Anjum, who has won innumerable awards, accolades and recognition not just individually but for her institutions as well.

Anjum, who received an honorary doctorate in education by the National American University and National Institute of Education and Research, has an interesting take on Brand India. "As long as Brand India maintains its pluralism, secularism and humane values on which the nation was founded upon, it will grow stronger, taller and wider by harnessing the strength of unity in diversity. If it is inclusive, striving for justice and opportunity for all, Brand India will be a potent force like no other."

Follow her on LinkedIn

Reading Time: 8 mins

Madhukar Varshney: The US-returned innovator-turned-entrepreneur helps children problem solve

(November 30, 2021) If the Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum is right, 65 percent of students entering primary school will ultimately work jobs that haven’t even been invented yet. Then how does one prepare children for the future? It involves a farsightedness that Madhukar Varshney, founder of NimbleQ, has made a part of his DNA. The IT honcho imbues children with essential skills — creative thinking, communication, problem solving, critical thinking and collaboration. Technology is at the heart of many jobs, and understanding how to apply it to innovate and create able future generations is Varshney’s core strength. The idea, says the innovator-turned-entrepreneur, is to teach children to apply knowledge to solve real world problems and have a growth mindset. “Did you know only 2 percent of Fortune 500 companies have CEOs of Indian-origin?” he asks, adding, “This is because there is some flaw in the way we teach our kids. We focus on the math, but where is the creativity? Where is the proclivity to create and innovate?” [embed]https://twitter.com/HakimHabibulla/status/1418132814600433673?s=20[/embed] A holistic approach NimbleQ’s holistic skills development programme focuses on building the next generation of leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs, and it was developed by the US-returned Varshney and his wife Shailey Motial, who handles brand

mbed]https://twitter.com/HakimHabibulla/status/1418132814600433673?s=20[/embed]

A holistic approach

NimbleQ’s holistic skills development programme focuses on building the next generation of leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs, and it was developed by the US-returned Varshney and his wife Shailey Motial, who handles brand development and strategies.

What started as an after-school curriculum, now focusses on helping youngsters to innovate. “The idea is to get children to think independently like creators. While it is important to learn all things tech-related, it is also important that children know how to apply the knowledge, understand business, entrepreneurship, and money,” says Madhukar, who was in the US for 20 years thanks to the citizenship he was awarded under the Outstanding Researcher Category in 2009.

[caption id="attachment_16994" align="aligncenter" width="4898"] Global Indian Madhukar Varshney Madhukar Varshney with students during a NimbleQ class[/caption]

Raised in a very conventional family in Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), entrepreneurship didn’t even cross his mind. Born in 1974 to a father, who was a government contractor father, and teacher mother, Madhukar grew up believing that the route to success was through a US education. “Career choices then were either as doctors or engineers. I’d never thought about starting up. When I moved to the US, I got the opportunity to explore with an exposure to diverse cultures and professional experiences,” recalls Madhukar, who graduated in chemical engineering from HPTI, Kanpur, and then did a master’s and PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Arkansas.

Madhukar then worked at Cornell University as a research associate studying micro and nanomechanical cantilever-based sensors. A job at NABsys, a company which develops semiconductor-based tools for genomic analysis, came next.

The researcher turned educationist

During his career as a researcher, Madhukar published over 35 papers and owns three patents. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, he decided to branch out on his own. In 2014, he set up his first company Forty-Five NE, a digital healthcare company that influences disease outcomes by empowering patients to get involved in self-care.

[caption id="attachment_16984" align="aligncenter" width="1065"] Global Indian Madhukar Varshney Madhukar Varshney with his wife and co-founder Shailey Motial[/caption]

He ran the Massachusetts-based company for two years. The Varshneys then began searching for something empowering in education. “We weren’t too happy about where the education system was headed. For instance, in India, students are not encouraged to question. There is no room for creativity, independence or leadership qualities. In the US too, though the system is different, there is still a loophole that needs to be plugged,” he tells Global Indian.

The seed was planted, and the couple moved lock, stock, barrel and family, to India and set up NimbleQ in 2017. Headquartered in Lucknow, NimbleQ is aimed at developing nimbleness of the mind. “They say that intelligence and capability are not natural talents; they are built by the flexibility of the mind. At NimbleQ, that’s what we aim to do: we encourage students to learn how to learn, question, focus, (even) fail and take in their stride and begin again,” says the founder of the so far bootstrapped startup.

Designed to teach

The NimbleQ experience is designed to teach kids to adapt, be flexible, question the status quo and adopt a holistic approach to life. “This is why business and entrepreneurship and understanding money are important aspects of the programme. So children are truly future ready,” he adds.

[caption id="attachment_16986" align="aligncenter" width="758"] Global Indian Shailey Motial Shailey Motial[/caption]

With programmes aimed at kindergartners to class 10 students, the startup has already been seeing some very positive results. For instance, a six-year-old student of theirs, won a Business Idea Hackathon for suggesting that energy be harnessed from Mars. “We don’t want our engineers to build a Taj Mahal. What’s the point of a Taj Mahal if it cannot be sold? The idea is for our engineers to innovate and design buildings that can be scaled and sold,” says Madhukar. So far, about 4,000 students have signed up since they started, with 80,000 plus hours of classes conducted.

The programmes are designed to treat students like adults, show them real time scenarios and what real jobs involve. After months of research, sit-downs with industry leaders, educationists, and researchers, Madhukar developed the programmes which today they are helmed by NimbleQ teachers (all engineers).

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlpvltyIF9M[/embed]

The startup has students in India, US and UAE. Plans are afoot to resume offline classes again, with expansion plans. “We’re also looking to raise funding to aid these plans,” says Madhukar, who is headquartered in Lucknow and always wanted to start small. "We’re not in it for the race.”

The father of two, loves to unwind with his children and encourages them to explore and question the world.

“At the end of the day, we put the student at the centre. We treat them like grown-ups. We don’t restrict ourselves to premium schools, we want to democratise education and also tie up with mid-size and small schools,” says the entrepreneur, who loves to sketch.

Follow Madhukar Varshney on LinkedIn.

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