International Startup Festival 2024 To Flag Off From September 2024

EE News Desk Sep 20, 2024

This festival aims to focus on strategic solutions and provide support to grassroots innovators from over 15 countries

The International Start-up Foundation, a not-for-profit organization supporting the growth and development of the start-up ecosystem, in association with the International Startups Network (ISN) - a global incubation city that will serve as a physical incubation hub for startups around the world will host the International Startup Festival (ISF) 2024. Themed ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the AI Era’, ISF 2024 is scheduled from 26 to 28 September, 2024 at the Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI), Gachibowli, Hyderabad. More than 15 countries including the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, UAE and eight countries from Europe will participate in ISF 24.

The event 2024 will be a unique platform for startup founders to connect with peers and investors, collaborate on innovative projects, and outline a growth path for their ventures.

ISF 24 is set to be one of the largest and most influential events in the global startup ecosystem, designed to connect entrepreneurs with investors, industry leaders, and fellow innovators. The festival aims at hosting 250+ CXOs, 300+ VCs, 800+ global angels, more than 5000 + delegates and 2000+ exhibitors at the expo from over 15 countries. The event will have startups from fintech, agritech, health tech, edutech, defense and space tech, cybersecurity etc.

The conference will feature ISF talks by nine top global speakers, nine curated roundtables of industry experts on Rural Economic Forum, CXO's, GCC, fintech, agritech, health tech, women in business, SET (Skill, Employability and Talent) and junicorns (next generation of innovators) besides 10 investor connect sessions to benefit the startups. The goal of ISF 2024 is to provide a robust ecosystem of mentors, CXOs, and investors to help startups explore, scale, and bring their innovations to a broader audience. The event offers three days of innovation, inspiration and networking with industry leaders, investors and policymakers ensuring broad industry representation.

Startups will have the chance to present their ideas to seasoned investors through ISF 24 Pitch Sessions, gaining valuable feedback and potential funding. The investor-startup matchmaking sessions offer one-on-one opportunities to foster relationships between entrepreneurs and investors. Moreover, it will provide a platform for startups to network and identify mentors to help them with insights into fundraising, product development, scaling, and global market access strategies.

Over 2000+ exhibitors will demonstrate their innovations at the startup exhibition. It is a dynamic space for showcasing cutting-edge products and solutions, attracting interest from investors, partners, and customers. The highlight of the Expo will be the Junicorn Pavilion, where future entrepreneurs will get an opportunity to showcase their solutions at ISF 2024.

Speaking about the International Startup Festival 2024, JA Chowdary, Key Architect of the Indian Tech Industry and Chairperson and Convenor, ISF said, "It’s an exciting opportunity to bring the International Startup Festival to Hyderabad, fostering collaboration and innovation within the global startup ecosystem. With the theme ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the AI Era’, we aim to empower startups by integrating AI technologies into their ventures, enabling them to solve real-world challenges and drive sustainable growth. Following the success of the Global CXO Summits in the USA and Jamaica, ISF 24 is set to be an extraordinary gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors from around the world, marking a pivotal moment for the future of entrepreneurship.

At ISF we aim to address challenges faced by startups like moving them from the idea stage to execution, supporting them with mentorship, avenues for funding and fostering synergistic networks etc. We have also witnessed that startups face a challenge in finding the right kind of talent. To help this issue International Startup Foundation is planning to partner with Sri City to set up ISF Gurukul. It will be a platform to equip fresh engineering graduates and people employed with different organisations to upskill with real-time training using data science and prompt engineering tools. This will create a pool of employable manpower available for the robust startup ecosystem in the country. We will expand it further to other cities also.”

Adding to this, Dr Siva Mahesh Tangutooru, Director, ISF Network said, “ISF 2024 is set to attract participation from over 50,000 startups from India, the USA, and other countries, with the top 150 startups being selected as finalists. These finalists will have the unique opportunity to pitch their ideas onstage to secure funding, and mentoring from the industry experts. The selection process stems from the Investor Connect Workshops held across key locations, including Pune, Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh, the USA, Europe, and Hyderabad.

ISF distinguishes itself by offering the Junicorn Roundtable, a dedicated forum to inspire and support the next generation of innovators. ISF 24 will be the only platform with a dedicated focus on rural innovation, ISF stands out by hosting the Rural Economic Forum, which aims to drive grassroots innovation and explore tech-enabled solutions for rural economies. To further inclusion of rural India, International Startup Foundation is pioneering Ankura Yatra an initiative where the mentors, investors and industry experts travel to the rural areas allowing the grass root innovators to display their ideas and secure guidance, investment and market access to reach out to a larger population. We are confident that this will help create an inclusive environment and propel increased participation of rural India’s in the growth of the country.”

ISF 24 will be graced by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana Sri A Revanth Reddy; Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, Deputy CM, Telangana; D Sridhar Babu, Minister for ITE&C, Industries & Commerce, Legislative Affairs, Govt. of Telangana; Uttam Kumar Reddy, Irrigation & CAD, Minister for Food & Civil Supplies, Govt of Telangana; along with Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Union Minister of Civil Aviation; Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Minister of State for Rural Development & Communications, Govt. of India and several policymakers, industry leaders, and leading startup founders sharing their insights to develop successful enterprises. The International Startup Festival 2024 is powered by Vamsiram Builders and Co-powered by NTT Data.