Neil Jain
Born as the youngest member to a family of successful entrepreneurs, Neil had big shoes to fill! He felt the pressure but had lots of love and inspiration all around him. Neil was fascinated by everything his siblings did and got a headstart by constantly being exposed to many new opportunities. Neil grew up playing Monopoly with his siblings at a young age, and even now, as adults, when they get together, their favorite game to play is Monopoly. At the age of 14, Neil interned at Ashoka and managed program outreach and social media at his middle school. Ashoka is a global community of changemakers and entrepreneurs.
He started his first venture – Innovation Generation, to inspire young students like him to become more entrepreneurial. In high school, he took his first venture Team Gen Z to compete in the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder Xprize. Team Gen Z was a student-run group developing a smartphone-sized device that can diagnose more than 15 common diseases using non-intrusive sensors. They became the youngest team in the history of the competition and reached the semifinals. A member of his school’s National Honor Society, Chinese Honor Society, President of its Youth Venture chapter, and one of the few to be selected to attend the Singularity University Graduate Studies Program. Neil seized every opportunity to continue to learn and grow. He also took
In June 2019, Neil graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Science and Technology. He was one of the four students selected for the Schwarzman scholarship in Beijing. The scholarship introduced him to new economic, political, and cultural worlds. While studying in Beijing, Neil founded the Startup Institute, an incubator for the Tsinghua University designed to educate, mentor, and support students in building businesses around global problems. He coached startup teams and helped them pitch their business to investors. The incubator also connects students to Global investors and entrepreneurs.
Throughout his college life, Neil continued to support Kairos society. Helping young students to become entrepreneurs was a personal goal for him. He was instrumental in expanding Kairos to many colleges in the US. Neil launched and managed over 16 new regional chapters across the country, including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, MIT, USC, BC, Berkeley, and Columbia, encompassing 350 fellows. He built partnerships with global conferences, providing over 500 fellows access to international forums like Forbes Under 30, Slush Finland, DLD Tel Aviv, Rise Hong Kong, and Startup Grind. Neil believes that the connected minds of the youth are more powerful than the innovations we have so far, and If equipped with the right tools and the right mindset, these connected minds can solve any problem!
About Startup Institute
As a Schwarzman Scholar, Neil understood the power of connected entrepreneurs. He built a premier incubator for Schwarzman Scholars and Tsinghua University to educate, mentor, and support students in building businesses around global problems. Neil advises early-stage startup teams to find the right partners, develop viable products, and pitch their business to investors through this program. He is also currently educating and building a network of tech and business professionals in NYC through his latest venture CoS Mastermind Network.