Vinit Nijhawan
Vinit Nijhawan was Managing Director, Office of Technology Development at Boston University where he launched 8 venture-backed spinoffs. Vinit teaches MBA courses on Entrepreneurship at BU Questrom School of Business, over 350 students have taken his courses. Vinit has over 30 years experience building five startups: as CEO of three, five were acquired. Vinit was Venture Partner at Key Venture Partners and over two years sourced over 200 deals and made one investment that was acquired for $430M. Vinit is an advisor and board member to several technology startups and was a Mass High Tech All-Star in 2005. Vinit has participated in over 240 panel discussions and paper presentations, and was a Board Member of Mass Ventures, an early stage, quasi-public Massachusetts venture capital firm, a co-founder of EdTech Accelerator/Incubator LearnLaunch, President of Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices. Vinit is also on the non-profit boards of the National Academy of Inventors and VentureCafe. Vinit earned a B.A.Sc in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Recent posts
As we fly over Cuba en route from Fort Lauderdale to Medellin, I am already imbibing the upcoming culture change from the happy chaos at the departure gate in Florida. The... Read more »
Delhi, January 5, 2010—The biggest challenge and therefore opportunity faced by India is its demographic dividend: there are over 500 million youth under 25 years of age and 350 million... Read more »
Delhi, December 29, 2009—The ruling Congress Party turned 125 years old today to muted fanfare. Founded in 1885, it became the main opposition to British rule, eventually coming to power... Read more »
Mumbai, December 23, 2009—There are now 500 million cell phone subscribers in India. In the major metropolitan cities, penetration rates are close to U.S. levels. A golf caddy, who makes... Read more »
Jaipur, December 22, 2009—I have come to Jaipur, a major tourist attraction, for the TiE Charter Member Annual Retreat. Some 250 charter members from across the 53 chapters of TiE... Read more »
Driving from Delhi to Jaipur on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, December 17, 2009—The new 10-lane Gurgaon highway, opened a year back, is already at capacity. The first 30 miles. through the... Read more »
I joined Boston University (BU) as a Lecturer and Executive-in-Residence in January 2008 and have been teaching courses on entrepreneurship to MBA students. My academic career has expanded recently with two... Read more »
Boston, Tuesday, January 20–I have been back from India for about two weeks and have had time to reflect on my trip and to view my hometown of Boston with a... Read more »
Mumbai-Delhi, Tuesday, December 23—I boarded the overnight train to Delhi at Bombay Central Terminal (the mixed use of old and new city names for Bombay is a metaphor for old and... Read more »
Pune, Monday, December 22—I visited the cerebral city of Pune, 120 miles southeast of Bombay (Mumbai), on the Deccan plateau. Pune is the closest parallel city to Boston, with a multitude... Read more »
Mumbai Friday December 19, 2008—The TiE Entrepreneurial Summit in Bangalore was a huge success–the sponsoring hotel was barely able to manage the large crowd. What struck me was how young the... Read more »
Bangalore, December 15—For 45 years after independence, Indian companies for all practical purposes operated without competition. Monopolies were granted by the government for extended periods. Many fortunes were made, both by... Read more »
New Delhi, December 10—The housing meltdown in the U.S. got me thinking about the property market in India. With the dramatic urbanization and growth of Indian cities property prices have skyrocketed.... Read more »
Chandigarh, Sunday, December 7—I drove straight north from Delhi to Chandigarh about 300 km, on a much improved four-lane highway. Chandigarh is a planned city that was designed by the French... Read more »
Editor’s note: Xconomist Vinit Nijhawan is in India visiting venture capitalists and startups with an eye to bridging Boston and Indian startup ecosystems. This is the first in a series of... Read more »
I have been part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for over 25 years, mostly as an entrepreneur but also as a VC and angel investor. I firmly believe that the symbiotic relationship... Read more »
The acquisition of BCGI (Nasdaq) by Megasoft (Bombay Stock Exchange) for $65M that was announced yesterday continues the trend of Indian telecom software companies acquiring European and North American companies. Driving... Read more »
