This is how a question from a start-up founder led to the venture signing a contract with Uber. Naren Y, founder of job portal DesiOPT, posed a question to Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, during the latter’s recent visit to India, wondering what kind of opportunities STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) talent from countries such as India can expect in the US.

This led to a favourable response from the Uber CEO, resulting in a one-year contract with the start-up to provide STEM talent to the cab aggregator.

“Today, we have a surplus of raw Indian talent in that US that is waiting to be explored. We were not able to reach out to the bigger companies which are in need of STEM talent in the US,” Naren said.

“The challenge lies in channelising the talent in the right direction. The association with Uber was indeed a much needed push.”

“We are happy to be contributing to promoting and supporting innovative ideas out of spirited start-ups in India like DesiOPT,” said Shweta Rajpal Kohli, Public Policy Head, Uber India.