Belagavi Tech Meet showcases home-grown innovations, KabadiMan stands out
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Belagavi : The fourth edition of the Belagavi Tech Meet was organised on August 30. The meet showcased the growing role of tier-2 cities in shaping India’s innovation landscape. Themed ‘Tech for Human Impact’, the event brought together entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and innovators. The Hindu reported that the aim of this meet was to discuss how locally developed technologies are driving meaningful change with global relevance.
Several home-grown products were launched during the event, including KabadiMan, a door-to-door trash recycling service that rewards customers while promoting sustainability, Hoopoe Electric, an urban electric bike designed and built entirely in Belagavi, Zen AI, an AI-powered platform simplifying online advertising and marketing and BeTCA Assist, a flagship AI initiative by the Belagavi Technology Companies Association (BeTCA) to provide tailored digital assistance for local enterprises.
According to The Hindu's report, the evening began with a welcome address by host Amit Soundalgekar, followed by a presentation on BeTCA’s journey and impact by Gajendra S. Tripathi. He underlined BeTCA’s role as a Section 8 non-profit collective of IT and ITeS firms, championing policy advocacy, ecosystem growth, talent development, and infrastructure needs. Mr. Tripathi cited BeTCA’s interactions with Department of Science and Technology (DST) Secretary Abhay Karandikar, who praised Belagavi’s innovation potential. He also noted KEONICS chairman Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda’s positive response to proposals for an IT park and plug-and-play facilities.
In a session on ‘Inventing the Future: How Founders Are Building Life-Changing DeepTech Products’, Kawal Arora, co-founder of DesiLLM, recounted his experience at Tesla and his return to India to build India-focused large language models (LLMs). He said the effort aims to reduce biases and make LLMs more suited to Indian users.
Akash Kulgod, founder of Dognosis and a UC Berkeley Cognitive Science graduate, shared his work on training dogs to detect diseases. He said his venture began during the Covid-19 pandemic after learning that dogs could detect the coronavirus. According to him, Beagles are especially effective for such work due to their temperament and independence.
A second panel discussion, ‘From Tier-2 to Global: Shared Learnings of Corporate Leaders and Entrepreneurs’, featured several success stories. Leena Padihari, founder of Alfanzyme Life Science, described her journey from a small loan-funded venture to a company now nearing ₹50 crore in revenue, with over 200 sugar factories as clients and plans for international expansion. Shekhar Gaonkar, founder of PetCart, explained how observing pet care trends helped him carve out a niche in the growing industry. Allah Baksh of Infosys Hubballi stressed persistence as the key to long-term growth. The sessions were moderated by Aadil Bandukwala of HackerRank.
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Bill Gates lauds Andhra's AI-driven growth
Amaravati (PTI): Microsoft founder and Gates Foundation chairman Bill Gates on Tuesday hailed Andhra Pradesh's rapid development, saying it was exciting to see the state's growth being accelerated through AI and technology.
Following his visit to Amaravati, Gates expressed his admiration for the southern state’s innovations across health, agriculture and education.
“Thank you for the warm welcome, N Chandrababu Naidu. It’s exciting to witness Andhra Pradesh’s growth being accelerated through AI, technology, and innovations across health, agriculture & education,” he said in a post on X.
On Monday, Gates had engaged in several activities in the greenfield capital city of Amaravati, beginning with an interaction with the CM and others, reviewing presentations on the use of technology in governance and also a visit to a banana orchard by the Krishna river bank in Undavalli village in Guntur district.
According to the tech czar, India is leading the global digital revolution.
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Naidu for their key role.
He also heaped praises on Naidu for his long-term vision, saying a majority of IT experts, including many at Microsoft, are from the Telugu states.
