APTA KATALYST-2025': Telugu NRIs Global Business Conference kicks off in Hyderabad; eyes Rs 5L Cr transactions in future

Hyderabad: The first ever Telugu NRIs Global Business Conference 'APTA KATALYST-2025' kicked off at HICC here on Friday night.

Organizers said the conference in the future is expected to generate business transactions worth Rs five lakh crore.

Conceptualized and curated by American Progressive Telugu Association (APTA), a non-profit organization, primarily aimed at networking for Telugu people in the United States the conference’s theme is `Connect, Collaborate, Create’.

Addressing the gathering, YSRCP MLC Botcha Satyanarayana urged APTA members to support aspiring business owners, help them succeed, and help them achieve their level of accomplishment.

“It's a tremendous effort to see company captains united on a single day,” said AP former deputy speaker and Jana Sena MLA Mandali Budhaprasad. Each individual attending the event has a remarkable story of accomplishment and personal growth.

APTA Conference Honorary chairman Dr Subbu Kota 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 Chairman said from 100 entrepreneurs APTA Business Forum has grown to 800 entrepreneurs. “As a run-up to the APTA KATALYST Global Business Forum 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 Rs 400 crore. This has paved the way for the current conference, which we might continue once every two years,” he said.

Convenor Sagar Lagisetti said the five key areas of the Global Business Conference, according to APTA are knowledge sharing and mentoring, networking, partnerships and collaborations, startup ecosystem, and enabling and growing businesses. The business conference in the future is expected to generate business transactions worth over Rs five lakh crore, he said.

APTA president-2025 Madhu Vulli said that over 1,000 delegates of Indian-origin entrepreneurs from different countries would participate in the three-day maiden conference with a focus on Technology, Green Energy, Education/Medical Education, Tourism and Hospitality, Health, Skill Development, Aqua Culture, Agriculture, Global Trading, Manufacturing with a focus on Make in India and Semiconductors, IPOs, Banking, Taxation, Finance etc and others.

The Katalyst Business Pitch Competition (KBP) finals will be held during the conference. Over 100 startups registered for the same of which 16 were shortlisted for a final pitch during the business conference shared by Hari Gaddam and Kamal Sakamuri, the chairmen for KBP. The highlight of this competition was the focus on rural entrepreneurship due to which 10 teams applied for pitching and four qualified for finals.

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 emerging technologies: AI, machine learning, generative AI, FinTech, EdTech, SaaS; life sciences: biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, healthcare; energy & utilities: renewable energy, sustainable solutions, utilities; lifestyle & consumer: e-commerce, retail, entertainment, food & beverages and 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.