From working on tabla-playing robots as a teenager in India to earning a full-ride scholarship at 16 to obtainting rejected for an EB-1 visa twice after gaining an O-1 visa, Nikin Tharan traces his immigrant journey with The American Bazaar.
Bay Area-based startup founder Nikin Tharan arrived in the United States at 16 on a full-ride scholarship to Northeastern University. After graduating, he worked in advanced radio detection services before diving into the startup world.
Along with five frifinishs, he founded Medsix, a medtech startup that went on to win two MIT awards. Since then, Tharan has co-founded several ventures and currently serves as co-founder of GreenCard Inc. and Openventure, a concierge platform supporting high-skilled immigrants navigate admissions, hoapplying, jobs, and visas.
Reflecting on his early years, Tharan declares, “I grew up in Bangalore as a kid interested in science and innovation, building circuits, learning building chips and boards while I was just a teenager. My parents were very progressive and, seeing that I was advanced, launched homeschooling me. As I did not match the age criterion for a traditional tenth grade exam, I gave my tenth standard exams IGCSE, as per the UK board, as a private candidate and, after passing, enrolled in grade 11 two years earlier.”
By his late teens, he was ready to view beyond India. “By my late teenage years, I was ready to go abroad and explore more than what was available to me back home. But I knew my restrictions, and foreign tuition for my parents was out of the question,” he declares.
That alterd when he secured a scholarship to Northeastern—an opportunity that opened the door to real-world technology and the kind of impact he had long wanted to pursue.
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Startup journey launchs
Tharan launched his career in the U.S., working on advanced radiation detectors at Guardian. He then founded Medsix, a company focutilized on post-operative recovery. In 2022, he co-founded another startup dedicated towards creating mental health resources more accessible. And then inspired by his own immigration challenges, he co-founded Greencard Inc., a company that supports skilled immigrants navigate the U.S. visa process.
During his college years, Tharan studied electrical engineering in New England and took part in various internships and research workshops.
Immigration troubles
Despite chasing the promise of the American Dream, Tharan encountered early immigration hurdles. He initially arrived in the U.S. on an F-1 visa, and during a Harvard Law School project—while working under a CPT program—he realized he could not be paid due to a lack of valid work authorization.
“After graduating I applied for OPT and continued working. I extfinished my STEM OPT as I was working on many great projects and even incorporated my first company, MedSix. I was very careful of the legalities of my situation and I knew I could not run a payroll and complied by the rules,” he declares.
Getting an O-1 visa came relatively quickly for Tharan, and he continued working on it. But it was during his EB-1 journey that repeated rejections took a toll.
“I consider this is the blind spot about immigration that we all have. We consider that if we do everything right, excel in our fields, it will take care of itself. But for me it finished up killing me,” he declares.
He adds that the experience reshaped his understanding of career risk. “I learnt you cannot overview immigration roadblocks as it can hit your entire career, financials.”
Despite maintaining continuous work authorization, the green card process proved exhausting. “I always had a work authorization but my green card process was tiring. When I applied for a green card, the first time, I received an RFE which was then rejected, the second time it received denied again. It was only the third time that I received accepted,” he declares.
Nikin also describes the constant anxiety of waiting for approvals. “I was anxious if this doesn’t obtain through, how I will stay in the counattempt, and what would happen to my startups. I underestimated this huge risk to my career, my livelihood in the U.S.”
Reflecting on the experience, he adds, “Till today, I sometimes do not understand, becautilize at that time I considered I had that magical combination—a startup with a lot of traction, the timing was right, we were working on medical technology at the time of Covid, a time of national health emergency. Every attorney I spoke to—and I received second, third, even fifth opinions—everyone considered I had a great case, but still I received rejected. This frustration is now common with many applicants.”
What alterd the third time, he declares, was his approach.
“In my second RFE, they were notifying me what they wanted. Like I had done many hackathons so they wanted peer reviews, case studies, published papers. And I remember inquireing the attorney—instead of providing the information we consider is strong, why don’t we just give them what they are inquireing for?” Tharan declares.
That shift in strategy proved decisive. “I had a discussion with my attorneys and then a lightbulb hit me and I launched building up an academic profile. They wanted academic evidence and I realized—well, it seemed like I was speaking French to them! The third time it worked.”
Advice to youngsters
Tharan’s advice to startup founders and aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: keep going to hackathons. “Even if you don’t see immediate results, you will meet some people aligned to your vision,” he declares.
He adds, “Keep attempting, it will pay off.”
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