NEAR Launches Web3 Regional Hub in India for Blockchain Talent Development and Innovation
On the 13th of September, the NEAR Foundation announced the launch of a new regional hub in India, dedicated to blockchain talent development and innovation. The expansion marks a strong commitment from NEAR to invest in India; a country that is home to some of the world’s most talented and coveted developers and Web3 creators.
NEAR’s involvement in the country aims to move the dial towards a more sustainable and inclusive approach to blockchain development, while providing the strong group of potential emerging leaders existing in the region with opportunities. Over 8000 developers have already completed the NEAR developer certificate, representing a growing interest in Web3.
The NEAR India Hub will be led by Aayush Gupta and Yash Kanchan, former leads on strategy for Terraform Labs. Gupta, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and an alumnus of IIT Delhi, is an advisor to multiple Web3 projects and comes with more than 7 years of experience in the traditional finance industry. Kanchan, a Computer Science Engineer with an MBA in Finance, has had previous experience at JP Morgan and has been collaborating with Web3 startups 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,” said Gupta. “We believe that entry barriers to Web3 can be significantly lowered through enriching user experience. The NEAR India Hub will focus on empowering entrepreneurs and developers to build interesting use cases that cater to masses globally. We are excited about pushing the envelope on DeFi to create products as robust as traditional financial primitives”.
The hub intends to attract the finest talent and nurture young entrepreneurs to build on Web3. In six months, a physical office in India will house their ‘Entrepreneurs In Residence’ programme, enabling innovators to work side-by-side with the NEAR India Hub team in the same physical space. The hub will also incubate online programmes, providing virtual guidance to entrepreneurs from India anywhere in the world.
“We are extremely delighted to support 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, ” said Marieke Flament, CEO of the NEAR Foundation. “This hub gives us the chance to nurture the local talent that will create global opportunities in the near future, and we look forward to seeing the amazing applications and initiatives that will come out of this ecosystem.”
Thanks to its rapidly growing economy, digital-first population and world-renowned technological prowess, India ranked first in this year’s Global Crypto Adoption Index. Combined with the right balance of regulation and support for creators of the new Web3 economy, these strengths have potential to transform the nation into a leader in the crypto space and become a driving force in mass crypto adoption. NEAR has strived to make firm commitments to win over this ecosystem in India. This includes launching its India-focused NEAR India Accelerator program in 2021, which aims to nurture and identify upcoming Indian startups that want to innovate in the blockchain space.
Through the accelerator, NEAR Foundation and Woodstock Fund have cumulatively offered up to $200,000 USD in funding, as well as mentorship from global experts in the blockchain and startup space, and marketing support for innovative startups building on NEAR Protocol with impactful solutions built on the for real-world problems.
About NEAR Protocol
NEAR is a dynamically sharded Proof-of-Stake, carbon-neutral blockchain built for usability and scalability. NEAR combines the power of both PoS and sharding in a technology called Nightshade, making the chain infinitely scalable without compromising security and decentralisation.
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