Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru

Mangaluru, April 25: 'Techwaves 2025: Rise of the Silicon Beach of India', a landmark event hosted by Vertex Workspace, was held on Friday, April 25 at Vertex Five, Kadri, Mangaluru. The event brought together industry leaders, tech innovators and policymakers to spotlight Mangaluru’s rapid evolution and its growing potential as a key player in the global technology sector.

The event featured four high-impact panel discussions, each exploring a critical area shaping Mangaluru’s transformation into a technology powerhouse. The sessions brought together leaders from industry, academia and government to examine the city’s expanding role in digital innovation and global competitiveness.

Rise of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and Mangaluru’s position

This panel examined how Mangaluru is emerging as a potential player in the global GCC ecosystem, which is expected to be a significant driver of job creation and innovation. The discussion highlighted the city’s growing contribution to international service delivery and strategic operations.

MLA and Keonics chairman Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda praised Vertex for sparking this timely dialogue on the city’s tech future. He stressed that talent is the true magnet for IT—not infrastructure alone. “Companies come here not for the good weather or food, but for talent retention,” he said, citing the region’s strong network of engineering colleges. He announced KEONICS’ plans to launch a major IT complex in Mangaluru, modelled on Bengaluru’s Electronic City. “We have 3.5 acres and hope to launch by June. The facility will span at least 4 lac sq ft and be ready in 2–3 years, subject to clearances.” He added that the government is ready to cover up to 75% of infrastructure costs, along with rental, internet and power subsidies.

He further lauded the region’s high-value IT firms and highlighted how even global tech giants missed the AI revolution, while start-ups led the change. “Innovation happens in MSMEs and SMEs. We want micro and nano Global Capability Centers (GCCs) to operate from Mangaluru,” he said.

The panel was moderated by talent engagement specialist Divyashree Gatti (UnifyCX), and included Anand Fernandes (CEO, EG India), Ashith Hegde (Managing Director, Arkieva), Roopalaxmi Pedamale (Development Manager, NCR Atleos Group), and Manikandan Subramanian (VP and GM, Everi India Pvt Ltd).

Deep Tech on the rise in Mangaluru

With a solid foundation in engineering and an emerging startup ecosystem, Mangaluru is making strides in deep tech sectors such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and digital health. This panel explored how the city is positioning itself as a nucleus for cutting-edge technological innovation.

Moderated by Johnson Tellis (CEO, Sahyadri College), the panel featured Namith Padmaraj (Director, ENG Bose Professional), Shashir Shetty (Chief Growth Officer, Niveus Solutions), Satyanarayan Nadasar (Director, Impelsys), and Ananth Pandit (Managing Director, Omnenest Technologies Pvt Ltd).

Mangaluru’s edge in the IT Services sector

This session focused on the factors attracting both established IT firms and startups to Mangaluru—its skilled workforce, high quality of life, and operational efficiency.

MP Capt Brijesh Chowta acknowledged that while Mangaluru possesses exceptional potential, it had missed the earlier IT wave. “Mangaluru has a unique convergence of industry, academia, investment and entrepreneurship. We should now aim for homegrown companies engaged in deep tech,” he said. Citing the global success of Mangalureans, he highlighted his ‘Back to Ooru’ initiative to engage the diaspora in building a robust local IT ecosystem. “I will be travelling widely to connect with global Mangalureans and help create the infrastructure backbone. We must think beyond IT services and step into deep tech,” he urged.

He also spoke of the city’s growing opportunities, noting plans by the New Mangalore Port Authority to set up a Maritime University, ONGC’s Rs 40,000 crore petrochemical complex, and other upcoming central government projects. “You should plug into these and create smart solutions. Let us build synergies between the diaspora, the ecosystem and the local talent pool. Do not wait—rise to the occasion and write our own Mangaluru story,” he urged.

The session was moderated by Mohammed Azzan Patni, Co-founder and Director of Pace Wisdom Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Importance of world-class workspaces

The final panel focused on how infrastructure and managed workspaces are critical to sustaining Mangaluru’s growth story. The discussion highlighted the role of quality work environments in attracting talent and enabling business scalability.

Recognising tech leaders fuelling Mangaluru’s growth

The event also featured a felicitation ceremony recognising emerging technology leaders who are contributing to Mangaluru’s status as a global innovation hub. The honourees included Koki Kato from Kobayashi Create India, Takashi Miyasaka from NIDEC Advanced Technology, Jagath Biddappa and Navajith Karkera from Sonic Lamb, and UnifyCX.