Sridhar Babu stresses international collaborations to propel Telangana into global hub
Hyderabad: At the International Start-up Festival (ISF), Telangana highlighted its intention to expand beyond traditional technology sectors by fostering a diverse startup ecosystem, including agriculture and health tech. IT minister D. Sridhar Babu stressed the need for innovation-driven growth and international collaborations to propel the state into a global hub for next-generation startups.
The three-day festival, themed ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the AI Era,’ witnessed over 5,000 delegates from 15 countries at the Engineering Staff College of India in Gachibowli. The International Startup Foundation (ISF), co-powered by NTT Data, signed 12 MoUs with key institutions like Singularity University, We-Hub, and the US India Chamber of Commerce, aiming to boost next-generation innovation.
A new concept, ‘Junicorns’, was introduced to encourage young innovators to transform ideas into sustainable businesses. The event featured the Junicorn pavilion and the ISF Pitch Fest, where winners emerged from a competitive pool of startups, showcasing Telangana’s rich entrepreneurial talent.
D. Shetkar Suresh Kumar, MP for Zahirabad, and IAS officer Jayesh Ranjan inaugurated the ISF Expo, which showcased over 200 start-ups. Dr J.A. Chowdary, chairperson of ISF, announced the ‘Ankura Yatra,’ a plan to identify rural innovators across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, aiming to bridge the urban-rural divide through technology-driven solutions.