Hyderabad, January 1, 2025- The first ever Telugu NRIs Global Business Conference-2025 in Hyderabad will be held at HITEX Convention from January 3 to 5.
The conference, called APTA KATALYST—GLOBAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE 2025, with a motto of “Connect, Collaborate, and Create”.
American Progressive Telugu Association (APTA), a non-profit organisation primarily aimed at networking for Telugu people in the United States of America has conceptualised and curated this program.
Disclosing this addressing a press conference in the city today Dr Subu Kota, Honorary Conference Chairman; Sagar Lagisetti, Conference Convenor; Chandra Sekhar Nallam, Conference Secretary; Tej Pakyala, Conference Treasurer; Madhu Vulli, APTA President 2025; Ramesh Thumu, Business Forum Chair and Vinay Velivela, PR & Media Chair said over 1000 delegates of Indian-origin entrepreneurs from over ten countries such as North America, Europe, India, the Middle East, and Asia are expected to participate in the maiden Global Business Conference.
The three-day business conference will kick start on Friday, 3rd January night with a Banquet Night which will be graced by Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The following two days, January 4 and 5 will be business conferences. Mr A. Revanth Reddy Chief Minister of Telangana will grace the conference on 4th January evening; Megastar Chiranjeevi will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony on 5TH January.
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 focus areas of the conference include: 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.
Madhu Vulli, APTA President 2025 said APTA was founded in 2008 to serve the U.S-based Telugu people with their necessities. Over the years it grew, supported 1600 plus students and extended scholarships worth Rs 14 crore. It also extended Parental Health care to the parents of the NRIs. It has been serving the community with 35 business forums.
Ramesh Thumu, Business Forum Chair, highlighted the exponential growth of the APTA Business Forum, which has expanded from 100 to 800 entrepreneurs. As a precursor to the APTA KATALYST Global Business Conference, over ten business meets were organized, primarily in Hyderabad, along with others in Vijayawada, Amaravathi, and Visakhapatnam, connecting with over 2,500 entrepreneurs.
These local business meets facilitated business transactions worth over ₹400 crore, showcasing the impactful collaborations within the community.”This success has laid a strong foundation for the upcoming conference, which we envision holding once every two years to foster continued growth and partnerships,” he added.
The five key areas of the Global Business Conference are 01. Knowledge Sharing and Mentoring, 02. Networking, 03. Partnerships and Collaborations, 04. Startup Ecosystem and 5. Enable and Grow Businesses, Ramesh Thumu added.
Dr Subu who moved to the USA in 1968 and founded or was involved in 52-plus companies learnt how to make money and create wealth. We wanted to share the same for the benefit of the entrepreneurs here, he said
Sagar Lagisetti said the participants of the global conference are highly successful individuals who are business owners of the business with a turnover of over 1 crore to 100 plus crores and beyond. The meeting will have five parallel sessions on different verticals of the business.
Tej Pakyala said this business event is an APTA’s contribution to India’s dream of achieving the third-largest economy in the world.
The Katalyst Business Pitch Competition (KBP) is created to showcase innovative ideas, support the growth of emerging businesses within the community and provide an opportunity to receive investments. Over 100 startups registered for the same of which 16 were shortlisted for a final pitch during the business conference. The Venture Capitalists, Aroa Ventures, SucSeed and APTA Angels will vet their ideas, and if found investment-worthy, they will invest up to $10Mil.
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 are competing 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.
We hope to see that this business conference shortly will result in over five lakh crore worth of business transactions, Vinay said.
Replying to a question on H1B Visas, Dr Subu Kota said ‘American business cannot run without H1B visa holders’. We are the grease and oil for American Businesses. Replying to another question about why Telugu is unable to make it into American Policymaking, Subbu said there is no power without politics. Telugu has already made inroads in American Policy Making and we will see more in future, he added.
Chandra Sekhar Nallam spoke about the importance of collaborative efforts. Building wealth takes time and effort. The good news is that there are proven strategies and guidelines we can help anyone build and preserve wealth through conferences like the one we are embarking on.