The following is a conversation/about excerpt between Vedanth Nath and an interviewer from 25u25 for Telangana and India, for which Vedanth was named.
25u25: Hi Vedanth, welcome to 25U25! Can you tell us a bit about Nexteen, what motivated you to start it, and how it has grown since 2019?
Nexteen was founded in 2019 by Vedanth Nath and was later joined by his team of 4 all under 25, with the youngest being 16.
Along with starting Nexteen, Vedanth has worked with LooCafe where we build the world’s most impactful WASH models with toilets and has created units and technology that over 1 Million people use in the real world every month. He’s also created a youth media house that became a YouTube sensation with 100K subscribers with his younger brother, has worked with the ministry of home and urban affairs in affiliation with KPMG and Swacch Bharat to create a national Youth internship program for sustainability and WASH.
With Nexteen his team wanted to build what they wish he had growing up. In high school, they had math class, but no future class. They weren’t exposed to emerging technologies, the mindsets of global leaders, and real-world skills. They didn’t know what WASH stood for. They watched companies like Amazon and Meta grow to billion-dollar organizations and had no clue how they operated.
They understood that the world has changed exponentially since school, and that possessing coding skills alone is no longer enough for young people to effectively navigate the future. They should be exposed to emerging technologies and sciences including: Artificial Intelligence, Genetic Engineering, Brain-Computer Interfaces, Fusion Energy, Blockchain, Cellular Agriculture, Nanotechnology, Quantum Computer, and Regenerative Medicine.
These tools are essential for solving big problems and shaping the future. Climate change, a global issue, requires advancements in carbon capture, battery technology, and clean energy production, like fusion and solar energy, rather than relying on traditional methods.
They wanted to expose young people to these emerging areas, while also developing their mindsets, real-world skills, and building a community of like-minded people. As a result, they designed Nexteen based on first principles thinking with inspiration for global leaders and CEOs – it became India’s first human accelerator.
Initially a project born out of passion, this institution has now gained worldwide recognition as a platform for driven young individuals to enhance their chances of making a substantial impact.
And Vedanth’s inspiration for all of it came from his love for football.
“If young footballers can become Champions League winners at the same age as me, why can’t there be CL equivalent disruptors and changemakers.” — Nath
25u25: What have been some of the biggest challenges you've faced in building Nexteen?
Ved: → It’s hard. And harder when you’re just a 16-year-old, but as hard it is, it’s as helpful. Unbound by constraints, we faced a roadblock every single and various health complications for each of us as we grew Nexteen. From being unable to articulate our idea and being incubated by T-Hub only to become their top 6 incubatee, and featuring at the UN and Startup20 in 2023. We’ve come a long way. We’ve also aged 10x we should’ve.
→ We failed 2 pilot programs to understand what we really wanted, and had burnt our way through in a week.