Nexus 3.0 | ND NOFO 24 102

Opportunity Information: Apply for ND NOFO 24 102

Nexus 3.0 (Funding Opportunity Number: ND NOFO 24 102) is a one-year public diplomacy grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Mission to India, Public Diplomacy Section in New Delhi. The program is built around collaboration with the Nexus Start-up Hub located at the American Center in New Delhi, and it is designed to deepen U.S.-India ties by promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and business connections grounded in U.S. entrepreneurial skills and values. The central idea is to respond to rising interest across Indian business communities in learning from U.S. approaches to start-up growth, investment readiness, and incubator-based innovation, while also strengthening cultural and economic linkages between the two countries.

At its core, Nexus 3.0 seeks proposals that expand the reach and impact of the Nexus platform to a broader and more diverse set of participants across India. The project emphasis is not only on serving individual founders, but on strengthening the broader entrepreneurship ecosystem by delivering modern, U.S.-style incubator management knowledge and training to India’s large incubator landscape, described in the announcement as a network of more than 1,000 incubators. The intention is to create a multiplier effect: by improving the practices and capabilities of incubators and ecosystem managers, the program can indirectly support many more start-ups and entrepreneurs than a single cohort program would reach on its own.

A major expected outcome is that emerging Indian business leaders and ecosystem stakeholders become better prepared to engage Indo-Pacific investors and partners, with a particular focus on building credible, practical connections to the United States. In practice, this implies programming that helps participants understand how U.S. innovation ecosystems work, how U.S. incubators and accelerators structure mentorship and networks, what investors tend to look for, and how to communicate value propositions effectively for cross-border partnerships. The public diplomacy angle is explicit: the activities are meant to advance bilateral relations while supporting entrepreneurship development in India, using professional exchange, capacity building, and network creation as the vehicle.

The American Center in New Delhi is identified as the primary location for program activities, which signals that the awardee should be prepared to conduct a substantial portion of trainings, convenings, and engagements there to maximize visibility and accessibility. At the same time, the opportunity expects the implementing partner to operate beyond New Delhi by carrying out business-sector outreach and network management across multiple locations in India. This broader outreach is expected to be coordinated in conjunction with U.S. Mission India’s constituent consulates, meaning applicants should be capable of working across regions, building partnerships locally, and managing relationships and programming logistics outside the capital when needed.

Funding is offered as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the U.S. government anticipates an active role in shaping or coordinating key elements of the project during implementation, rather than a fully hands-off grant structure. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary, and the activity category is Business and Commerce, Employment, Labor and Training under CFDA 19.040. The posted award ceiling is $300,000, with an expectation of one award, suggesting a competitive process aimed at selecting a single organization capable of delivering a national-level program with strong operational capacity and credible entrepreneurship ecosystem expertise.

Eligible applicants are broad, focusing on organizations able to deliver public diplomacy-oriented entrepreneurship programming. The announcement lists not-for-profit organizations, civil society/non-governmental organizations, think tanks, public and private educational institutions, and public international organizations and governmental institutions as eligible. Overall, the opportunity is best suited to applicants that can combine program design and training expertise with real-world start-up ecosystem credibility, strong stakeholder networks across India, and the ability to coordinate closely with the American Center New Delhi and U.S. Mission India consulates to deliver measurable ecosystem expansion and engagement outcomes within a one-year period.

Key dates provided in the source data include a creation date of March 6, 2024, and an original application closing date of May 6, 2024. For full requirements, deliverables, and submission instructions, the announcement indicates applicants should consult the complete notice under the “related documents” section referenced in the posting.

• The U.S. Mission to India in the business and commerce, employment, labor and training sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Nexus 3.0" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-03-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-06. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for ND NOFO 24 102

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