APTA KATALYST 2025 kicks off

Hyderabad, January 04, 2025: APTA KATALYST 2025, the biggest-ever Telugu NRIs Global Business Conference with the theme Connect, Collaborate, Create, kicked off formally at Hitex on Friday night.

The program began with Ganesh Vandana, an opening act and a couple of other performances by Bosco Dance.

Former Minister of AP Botsa Satyanarayana, Mandali Budhaprasad, former Deputy Speaker of AP and others graced the evening.

Botsa Satyanarayana speaking to the audience asked APTA members to give encouragement to budding entrepreneurs and lift them and make them as successful as you are.

Mandali Budhaprasad said seeing business captains together on single dias is a great effort. Everybody present here has a great success story and personality development story.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Subbu Kota, Honorary Conference Chairman said wealth can be created only because of great ideas and entrepreneurship. There is no other way I found to create wealth. This conference is a great opportunity for Indian and Telugu youth. This conference is going to create a Tsunami of entrepreneurship particularly in rural India.

Ramesh Thumma, the Business Forum Chair said from 100 entrepreneurs APTA Business Forum has grown to 800 entrepreneurs. As a run-up to the APTA KATALYST GLOBAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE, we have conducted over ten business meets, mostly in Hyderabad and others in Vijayawada, Amaravathi and Visakhapatnam and reached out to over 2500 entrepreneurs. These local business meets resulted in business tractions of over INR 400 crore. This has paved the way for the current conference, which we might continue once every two years, he added.

Over 1000 Telugu-origin delegates from over 10 countries such as the USA, Germany, Singapore, Australia and others descend on Hyderabad for a conference. The business sessions will begin on 4th January.

Convenor Sagar Lagisetti said the five key areas of the Global Business Conference, according to APTA are 01. Knowledge Sharing and Mentoring, 02. Networking, 03. Partnerships and Collaborations, 04. Startup Ecosystem and 5. Enable and Grow Businesses. The business conference in the future is expected to generate business transactions worth over five lakh crore.

The meeting has five parallel sessions on different verticals of the business starting on Jan 4, Real Estate Investment in India: Trends; Opportunities and Challenges Opportunities in Renewable Energy: Solar and Alternative Fuels; Pharma Industry Insights: Challenges and Opportunities for Aspiring Entrepreneurs; Valuations, Fundraising, and Exit Strategies for Startup; From Vision to Victory – Taking Your Company Public & Setting up NBFCs; Opportunities in India’s $313 Billion Education Sector by 2030; Empower Your Professional Journey: Must-Have Skills for Women in Business Today; Women in Cinema; India’s Semiconductor Push: Building a Robust Chip Manufacturing Ecosystem; Media Revolution: Transforming media in Digital Era are some of the interesting panel discussions lined up in the three days meet.

Over 100 distinguished speakers and panelists are expected to address 42-plus sessions. Some of the keynote speakers and panelists include Anil Chalamalasetti, Sekhar Puli, Nalli Durga Rao, Dr Bondada Raghavendra Rao, Srini Bayireddy, Bhaskar Gangipamula, Umesh Kunapureddy, Murali Kottu, Swapna Kumar Yenugu, R V Chakrapani, Bhaskar Krishnamsetty, Kumar Vidadala, BV Naidu, Rameshwara Rao Chandana, Dr. Jagadish Babu Rangisetty, Dr. N Venkateswara Rao, Pradeep Vajram, Sanjay Kamatam, Simhadri Venkata Sudhakar, Sudhakar Palisetti, CS Rao, Kavitha Akula, Parvathi Kollipara, Dr. Soujajya Vidadala, Lalitha Byra, Narendra Kumar Nambula, Bobby Allu, Midde Shanthiram, Baldwin Venugopal and several others. They are accomplished entrepreneurs from diverse verticals and spread their businesses across the globe.

The conference’s focus areas include Technology, Green Energy, Education/Medical Education, Tourism and Hospitality, Health, Skill Development, Aquaculture, Agriculture, Global Trading, Manufacturing with a focus on Make in India and Semiconductors, IPOs, Banking, Taxation, Finance, etc.

The Katalyst Business Pitch Competition (KBP) finals will be held during the conference. Over 100 startups registered for the competition, of which 16 were shortlisted for a final pitch during the business conference shared by Hari Gaddam and Kamal Sakamuri, the chairmen of KBP.

The highlight of this competition was the focus on rural entrepreneurship due to which 10 team applied for pitching and four qualified for finals.

The Venture Capitalists, Aroa Ventures, SucSeed and APTA Angels will vet their ideas, and if found investment-worthy, they will invest up to $ 10 million. The first three winners will walk away with 2.5, 1.5 and 1 lakh respectively

The competition was open to both startups and early growth-stage businesses looking for investment to accelerate their growth and scale their operations. The startups competing are in areas such as 1. Emerging Technologies: AI, Machine Learning, Generative AI, FinTech, EdTech, SaaS; 2. Life Sciences: Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture, Healthcare; 3. Energy & Utilities: Renewable Energy, Sustainable Solutions, Utilities; 4. Lifestyle & Consumer: eCommerce, Retail, Entertainment, Food & Beverages and 5. Open Category: For innovative ideas that don’t fit within the above segments. The winners of this competition will not only get prize money but will walk away with the funding.