The Port City is all set to become a beehive of activity for domain experts, investors and CEOs of various companies involved in financial technology as the Vizag Fintech Festival, billed as the largest fintech event in the country, will begin here on Monday.
CxO golf tournament
The event will start with a CxO golf tournament at the East Point Golf Club where at least 75 CxOs are expected to showcase their skills. However, the formal inauguration will be made by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday.
The highlight of the festival is the ‘$1 Million Startup Challenge’, an address followed by a brief interaction by world’s first humanoid robot Sophia and a cultural performance by artists from the United States.
Earlier, the organisers conducted roadshows in the USA, UK, France, Tel Aviv to promote the event and the roadshows evoked a good response.
“We are very excited for hosting such a big event in which around 2,000 delegates from 15 countries are likely to take part, apart from stakeholders from insurance, banking and emerging financial technologies,” J.A. Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to Chief Minister, told The Hindu on Sunday.
The festival is being organised jointly by Fintech Valley Vizag, in association with Singapore-based SingEx, from October 22 to 26. It will have several brainstorming sessions.
Sophia, the first humanoid robot to get citizenship from Saudi Arabia, will visit Andhra Pradesh for the first time.
Swathi Atluri, artistic director of New Jersey-based Siddhendra Kuchipudi Art Academy and her 15-member troupe will entertain the delegates by performing Kuchipudi with the contemporary theme.
The performance will be based on creating awareness on eve teasing, domestic violence, child rape, harassment of women in public. All of these issues will be woven into a storyline.
“However, the performance will not end on a tragic note. It is about how one can get out of it and how mother-in-laws can create awareness on upbringing of children,” an organiser said.
‘Demo Day’ programme
As many as 15 finalists selected from across the globe will pitch their innovative ideas before a panel of jury at the ‘Demo Day’ programme scheduled to be organised on October 25.
All the finalists have agreed to launch 20% of their operations in Visakhapatnam for which the State government would extend support to them by ensuring finance and others, Mr. Chowdary told the media here.
