Sridhar Vembu a Key Speaker at Huddle Global 2024

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Leading SaaS provider Zoho Corporation’s Founder & CEO Sridhar Vembu will be among an impressive line-up of speakers at the country’s flagship startup festival Huddle Global 2024, planned by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) at Kovalam here from November 28 to 30.

Zoho’s pioneering initiative of training rural youths and creating jobs for them in cutting-edge technologies has won laurels across the globe.

Another key speaker is historian and writer William Dalrymple, who is known for his Indo-centric narratives. Also an acclaimed art historian, photographer and critic, Dalrymple will speak on his latest work ‘The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World’ on the concluding day of Huddle Global 2024. Dalrymple has to his credit several best sellers including ‘City of Djinns’, ‘The Last Mughal’ and ‘The Anarchy’.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate ‘Huddle Global 2024’, opening immense opportunities for the state’s robust startup ecosystem to showcase case its prowess, raise more funds, scale up business and firm up the global connect.

Though registrations have been closed for the event, tickets will be provided through lucky draw on November 15 after closing the waiting list.

The three-day event will feature a wide range of speakers including industry leaders, domain experts, innovators, innovators, mentors and funding agencies and individuals, drawn from across the world.

Notable talks include a keynote address by Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, on “ISRO’s Vision and the Rise of India’s Space Tech Companies.”

Erik af Hällström, Consul General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland; Jonas Brunschwig, Consul General, Switzerland; Richard McCallum Group CEO UK – India Business Council and Silai Zaki, Consul General, Australia, will converge for the panel session on ‘Startup-Beyond Borders’ on the inaugural day.

Dr. Rathan. U. Kelkar, Secretary (Electronics & IT) Govt. of Kerala; Anoop Ambika, CEO, KSUM; and S D Shibulal, Co-founder, Infosys and Vice Chairman, High Power IT Committee, Govt. of Kerala, will also attend.

In the panel discussion on ‘Emerging Technologies & Kerala’s Aspirations to Drive the Technology Wave,’ the panelists will be K R Jyothilal, Principal Secretary, Govt. of Kerala; Sam Santhosh Founder & Chairman SciGenom Labs; Dr. Saji Gopinath, First Vice Chancellor, Kerala University of Digital Sciences; and Dr. P V Unnikrishnan, Member Secretary, KDISC.

In the panel session on ‘Possibilities for Startups in the Creative – Cultural Sector,’ Laila Tyabji, Chairperson, DASTKAR Society for Crafts & Craftspeople; Aman Nath, Co-founder & Chairman, Neemarana Hotels; Aditya Arya, Founding Director, Museo Camera;⁠ Kanchana K V, CEO, Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises; and Manasvini Hariharan, Executive Director, Urban Land Institute India will attend. Tanya Abraham, Director, Kashi Art Gallery, will be the moderator.

On November 29, a panel session on ‘Navigating the Digital Landscape in Aviation Sector’ will be attended by Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip; Anand Srinivasan, Co-Founder and Chief Information Officer, Akasa Air and Aashish Chopra, author of ‘Fast, Cheap & Viral’.

In the session on ‘Startup Investment Scenarios Across the World’, Laura Raggl Managing Partner ROI Ventures; Takahisa Ohira, Head of Asia, Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support; Prem Barthasarathy, Partner, Pontaq; and Arjun Pillai, Cofounder & CEO, Docket Inc. are the panelists while Chandu Nair, Investor Chennai Angels, is the moderator.

On the final day, the session on ‘Sustainable Growth for Edtech Startups’ will be attended by Ananthu S, Founder, Xylem Learning; Ramees Ali, Founder& CEO, Interval Learning Platform; and Ajas Mohammed Jansher, Founder, Eduport. Sharique Samsudheen, Founder & CEO, marketfeed, is the moderator.

The final session on ‘Leadership Lessons from the Corporates to the Startups’ will have the presence of Srimathi Shivashankar, CVP & Global Head – HCL Edtech Business, HCL Technologies; Kamolika Gupta Peres, Former Group Vice President and Managing Director – India ServiceNow; Deepali Naair, Group CMO, CK Birla Group and Ajay Arora, Vice President – Strategic Planning & Projects, Hero Enterprise.

The annual event will also feature other eminent speakers including Kambis Kohansal Vajargah, Deputy Head, Founder Services, Austrian Federal Economics Chamber; Ajay Singh, Head-Technology and Innovation, Austrian Embassy Commercial Section; Shreshta Sharma, Talent Manager-India Business Finland; Dr Ajai Chowdhry, Cofounder, HCL and Founder of EPIC Foundation, India; Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures; Siva Kumar Padmanabhan, MD & Head, Global Innovation & Technology Centre; AstraZeneca India; Ravi Arora, Vice President, Group Innovation at Tata Sons; Ranjani Mani, Director & India Country Head, Generative AI, Microsoft; Ramkumar Narayanan, Executive VP, Technology & Services, India & Philippines-FIS; Prateek Maheshwari, Cofounder, PhysicsWallah; Shreyas Srinivasan, Founder, Paytm Insider & Chief Product Officer, Paytm; actor Sijoy Varghese, who is also the MD of TVC Factory; and Divya Bajaj, Vice President, London & Partners.

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.