Kyron and MIT launch Global Startup Lab

Kyron Global Accelerator and Kyron University have announced a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to launch Global Startup Lab in India.

MIT Global Startup Labs is a multidisciplinary group of MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives. It promotes development in emerging regions by educating young technology entrepreneurs.  The programme has conducted 43 courses in 15 countries to date, mentoring more than 2,000 participants in the process. A total of 76% of the participants continue the startup founded during the course.

The six-week accelerator to develop a product runs from 17 June to 25 July 2014, and has a particular focus on software and hardware platforms for mobile and internet technologies. 28 candidates were selected to join, out of more than 450 applications. The technical and business curriculum is taught by alumni and current student instructors from MIT’s business and engineering schools. At the end of the six weeks, the teams will show off their product at a Demo Day, attended by regional mentors and funders. Participants also receive a certificate from MIT upon successful completion.

Kyron University is – despite its name – not a higher education institution. It is run by the Bangalore-based Kyron Global Accelerator, and partners with industry, academia and government to introduce entrepreneurship focused educational programmes to the Indian startup community.

Kiran Ratnapu, entrepreneurial lead at MIT Global Startup Labs India, said: “There is a gap in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in India. Early stage accelerators and venture capital firms address the mentoring needs of those who have some traction but there are ton of budding entrepreneurs who need mentoring on market-oriented product development, to be good enough to be considered by the early stage accelerators. MIT Global Startup Labs precisely addresses this gap.”