The American Tamil Entrepreneurs Association (ATEA) just wrapped its national conference of the year. There was an abundant overflow of energy on a Saturday at the most historical venue, Bell Labs, which throughout the twentieth century influenced thousands of researchers and engineers to innovate on some of the world’s most important technological breakthroughs.
It was a rare sight to see many professional entrepreneurs adorning business suits and
curiously networking from 8 am to 8 pm.
Discussions were held on industries that are seeing renewed and new interest in investments such as supply chain, Digital Health, Sustainability, and connected things.
CATEALYZE 2022 kicked off by resonating its main theme “Engage and Take Charge” with Ram Nagappan, president of the ATEA Northeast welcoming the participants and setting the stage for the events to follow. The audience were spellbound and captivated by the keynote speakers Sowmyanarayan Sampath, Chief Executive Officer, Verizon
Business, Dr. Varun Jeph, Deputy Consul General of India in New York, and Francisco
Dsouza, former CEO and Vice Chairman of Cognizant and currently Managing Partner
and Co-Founder of Recognize. The moderators of the sessions Karishma Vanjani and Suresh U. Kumar asked the right questions to elicit responses that benefitted both seasoned and aspiring entrepreneurs.
There were power packed and impactful panel discussions on The Next Wave of FinTech Innovations, Indian-owned Family Offices in North America, and The Second Life of Supply Chain ATEA Success story, all of them were well received due to their relevance in the entrepreneurial trend in the USA. The conference also included a startup pitch competition where shortlisted startups pitched their business and investment requirements to a panel of venture capital, private equity and angel investors.
The conference planning was led by Ponnarasi Raj, Program Director and Karthik Sundaram, Program consultant. The event planning was supported by Venkatesh Sadagopan and Krishna Chari, ATEA New Jersey chapter Chair and Co-Chair respectively.
