Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | 22nd September 2022: Indian entrepreneurs took centre-stage at the recently concluded American Tamil Entrepreneurs Association (ATEA) National Entrepreneurs Conference CATEALYZE 2022, which witnessed powerful panel discussions and fireside chats featuring entrepreneurs from different sectors.
The main theme for CATEALYZE 2022 was “Engage and Take Charge” with the goal of promoting entrepreneurs and investors to collaborate and launch new businesses in the USA.
The Indian community is one of the largest overall immigrant populations in the United States, second only to the Mexican community and is the largest Asian community, with more than 4 million people that are permanent residents. Indians contribute more than 1 Trillion USD to the American Economy while accounting for only 1% of the total population.
Indians are actively contributing to knowledge, development, wealth and impact across various sectors. There are 30+ Indian owned Family offices that are actively investing, contributing and impacting the American story.
Patel Family Office, one of the oldest Indian-American-owned family offices in the USA, was the title sponsor of the event.
Lakshmi Narayanan, serial entrepreneur and Managing Partner of the Patel Family Office, spoke at the event about the strategies and philosophies that underpin family office investment. In presentations that followed, Patel Family Office board members, Annelise Osborne and Kim Diamond and executives Kong Posh Bhat and Kwanza Hall, showcased two socially responsible projects the firm are developing. HOMZ is focused on eradicating America’s affordable housing crisis through public, private partnerships with cities, while GreatX is attempting to democratize economic ownership of real estate assets in USA by bringing traditional portfolio balancing tools and products to the digital asset space.
From CIOs to venture investment professionals to seasoned entrepreneurs, ATEA had assembled a wide range of speakers who shared their insights and advice through their own entrepreneurial journeys. The keynote speakers were Francisco Dsouza, former CEO and Vice Chairman of Cognizant and currently Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Recognize, Sowmyanarayan Sampath, Chief Executive Officer, Verizon Business, and Dr. Varun Jeph, Deputy Consul General of India in New York.
There were well-moderated panel discussions on topics such as Healthcare, FinTech, and Supply Chain with various leaders. 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.
