The NEAR protocol is maintained by the Near Foundation, the Swiss non-profit, and they have just announced the opening of a blockchain innovation & talent development hub in India. The inauguration of the center is a major demonstration of NEAR’s plans to develop its operations in India, which is home to not only some of the world’s best developers & Web3 designers but also one of the greatest startup and entrepreneur groups.
With a strong set of prospective emerging leaders already present in the region, NEAR’s engagement in the country intends to shift the dial toward an inclusive and sustainable strategy for blockchain development. There is an increasing interest in Web3 as evidenced by the fact that over 8000 developers have achieved the NEAR developer certificate.
Aayush Gupta & Yash Kanchan, formerly lead on India’s approach for Terraform Labs, would be in charge of the NEAR India Hub. Gupta, a CFA with an experience of more than seven years in the conventional finance business and an alumnus of IIT Delhi, is a prominent angel investor & advisor to startups in the Web3 space. Having worked at JP Morgan & earning an MBA in finance, Kanchan is now a partner with Web3 startups and has been so for over 7 years.
“We are thrilled to be working with NEAR to bring Web3 innovation to the masses in a sustainable and impactful way,” Gupta said. “We believe that entry barriers to Web3 can be significantly improved via enhancing user experience. NEAR India Hub will focus on empowering entrepreneurs and developers to “build” interesting use cases that can cater to masses globally. We are excited about pushing the envelope on DeFi to create products that can be as robust as traditional financial and gaming primitives”.
The objective of the hub is to attract top talents & offer a supportive environment for prospective Web3 entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs in Residence will be placed in a real office in India, giving them direct access to the NEAR India Hub staff. The center will also use the internet to incubate programs, helping budding business owners all across the world.
“We are extremely excited to be supporting the rich and exciting developments taking shape in India – and with our new hub, there will be an incredible opportunity for developers and creators to come together to learn, educate and further their talent and build on our blockchain, ” CEO of the NEAR Foundation Marieke Flament said. “This hub gives us the chance to nurture the local talent that will have global opportunities in the near future – and we look forward to seeing the amazing applications and initiatives that will come out of this ecosystem.”
