The first StartAP Awards on May 25 will celebrate #Andhrapreneurship in Visakhapatnam

The first edition of the StartAP Awards to be held on May 25 is already creating waves on social media. We find out what we can expect from the event
The application deadline for the start-ups was May 10
The application deadline for the start-ups was May 10

Celebrating entrepreneurship in Andhra Pradesh, StartAP Awards is all set to kick off its first edition on May 25 at Sai Priya Beach Resort in Visakhapatnam. After making StartAP Fest, which usually happens in September, a landmark event, StartAP Awards is poised to be the next big thing. It is an invite-only, business leadership awards event that recognises the work and efforts of entrepreneurs. There are three categories of awards — Leadership Awards, Organisational Awards and Startup Awards.

CM Chandrababu Naidu himself had inaugurated StartAP in 2016 at Visakhapatnam, virtually. He spoke for 50 minutes and has been supportive of the initiative ever since

Siddharth Marupeddi, the CEO of StartAP, tells us that those who attend this event on Friday will have a lot to look forward to, including two-panel discussions which will see global representatives from Switzerland, Estonia, Singapore, and Finland discuss the start-up ecosystems of their countries. "The idea is to bring entrepreneurs down to Vizag, create a buzz and an ecosystem right here," says Marupeddi, who also informs us the jury, who vetted the 250 plus applications, is as prestigious as it gets — JA Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh; Glenn Robinson, MD of XLr8 Andhra Pradesh; Peter Vesterbacka, Creator of Angry Birds and Founder of Slush and a few others.

Straight talk: Siddharth Marupeddi during one of the StartAP events


While StartAP Fest and other events like StartAP Go, StartAP Campus, StartAP Meet and StartAP Roadshows are meant to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship, the bigger goal, which will be formally announced at the StartAP Awards, is to establish 100 high-impact start-ups through the StartAP platform by 2020. "If we break it down, we are talking about approximately 30 start-ups in one year," explains Marupeddi. The body to activate the ecosystem further will be set up by September. A team of seven to eight people along with Marupeddi will do there best to make this happen.

Divyank Turakhia, founder, Media.net and Kirthiga Reddy, former MD, Facebook India are also part of the jury that has screened applications to choose the awardees

The event has found support from even the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu, who has played a huge role in making the hashtag #Andhrapreneurship viral on social media. "When the CM himself talks about us, it is very motivating," says Marupeddi. Speaking about the government and how much it should do for entrepreneurship, Marupeddi makes a good point, "While the Andhra government is working on a policy level quite early in terms of IT and start-up policies, is inviting incubators and is ever-so supportive, people are demanding much more. They want the government to give them everything," which is against the very spirit of entrepreneurship. "You can't inject passion into the youth," he points out.

Out there: StartAP is definitely a brand to reckon with

This is why this non-profit venture wants to build an ecosystem and StartAP Awards is just a way of recognising the achievers within this ecosystem.    


For more on them, click on startapawards.com

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
EdexLive
www.edexlive.com