Abhigna Rambhatla is a 21-year-old who’s endlessly fascinated by how people think, create, and leave their mark on the world. She reads to understand, writes to untangle her thoughts, and collects ideas with the hope that one day they’ll become something worth building.

She is the Creative Director at I Am Ratan, a premium bespoke menswear brand born from a shared dream between a father and daughter, shaped by over two decades of craftsmanship in textiles and a belief that true luxury is built with intention. She spends her days translating that legacy into a modern brand, where strategy, storytelling, and design come together with purpose.

She has never believed in staying in one lane. Curiosity has always pulled her toward different disciplines, and she has learned that the best ideas often live at their intersection. In many ways, I Am Ratan is the outcome of that belief: a brand that brings together heritage and modernity, business and creativity, legacy and reinvention. And if there’s one thing she is certain of, it’s that she is only just getting started.

Akanksha is a beauty and fashion Creator turned Entrepreneur. She combines her digital influence with her fashion venture, Akute.

Alisha is a 2X published author. She has carved her own path to fulfil her dream of living an author’s life. She believes that “If one believes in oneself and puts in the work, they are bound to make their dream come true”. So when the gatekeepers of the publishing industry kept her from bringing out her story, she took control of publishing her story herself.

She empowered other writers to become an author on their own terms by giving them a blueprint of publishing in her second book – Self Published.

A former Integration Architect, she bid goodbye to her IT career to pursue her love for writing books. Besides books, she loves travelling and trekking in the Himalaya. In this fast-paced world where people switch from one app to the other and live in a digital world, she chose to slow down and live a more meaningful life offline by contributing some of her time volunteering for NGOs.

Amrutha works at the intersection of food, storytelling, and media. She’s endlessly curious about what people eat and why, and you’ll usually find her reading, writing, or just thinking about food culture.

She currently leads content at The Culinary Lounge, shaping everything from ideation and writing to video production for food and culinary experiences. Previously, she built her foundation in journalism as a Research Editor at The New Indian Express, working on election coverage and background research across politics, law, and current affairs. Alongside that, she’s written freelance features on food, sustainability, fashion, and hyperlocal business, work that’s shaped how she digs into stories and writes about the systems and people behind them.

Darani is the founder of The Social Brew, an apartment café that’s reimagining how adults make friends. Through intimate gatherings centered around coffee, homemade bakes, and thoughtful conversations, she is building spaces where strangers leave as genuine connections.

She is a professionally trained pastry chef by background, and she has also worked across public relations and marketing in luxury hospitality and live events. Today, she brings together her experience in hospitality, community building, branding, and storytelling to create experiences that feel deeply personal. From conceptualizing each edition to baking, creative direction, operations, finances, and hosting, she leads every aspect of The Social Brew with the belief that meaningful connection deserves intentional design.

Futa is a Japanese creator who turned his love for Telugu into a digital identity, connecting Japanese and Telugu cultures through entertaining, language-first content.

Kishor Krishnamoorthi is a contemporary wedding and documentary photographer and Canon brand ambassador. He is based in Hyderabad and publishes Concorde Zine, a printed publication showcasing photo stories from India. His work has been featured in the Economic Times, the WEEK, The Hindu, and has been exhibited nationally and internationally. He aims to preserve the history of his city, Hyderabad, through his work. He has photographed global celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Hassan and covered more than 700 weddings over the past 15 years.

Krishna Priya Akella, a Forbes Asia 30 Under 30, is the Founder of Starbuzz.ai and Hey Creators, an AI-powered influencer marketing ecosystem trusted by 500+ brands and 1,50,000+ creators.

Maithreya Chakravarthula is a multi-time founder, a UT Dallas alum, graduated with a Bachelor’s in MIS and Master’s in SCM. After a successful stint in direct & inside sales – in 2017, co-founded SmartSortAl, a zero-waste-to-landfill initiative, that uses computer vision to segregate waste into different streams – lead it to a strategic acquisition in 2020. He holds multiple US patents.

Alongside SmartSort AI, he co-founded Sahai Tech, an AI based Assistive technology firm. Sahai Tech was the winner of the North Texas’s biggest Idea competition and the UT Design Startup challenge.

After relocating to India, he led the Global Commercial Customer Success team for a San-Francisco based SaaS firm. He currently serves as the Founding Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Sreenidhi University.

Meher Kilaru is a seasoned media executive, creative strategist, and broadcast leader with over 12 years of experience shaping high-impact narratives across cinema, OTT platforms, and radio. As the Head of Entertainment & Originals at Dil Raju Dreams, he leads the studio’s content vision, overseeing creative development, original slates, talent acquisition, and strategic industry partnerships.

Meher’s journey in media is defined by a strong track record of audience engagement and storytelling. Prior to stepping into studio leadership, he served as the Content Head for Fever 94.3 FM in Hyderabad, where he spearheaded major programming strategies, built high-performing creative teams, and managed large-scale broadcast operations.

Transitioning into the film and digital space, Meher has played a key role in developing and positioning content across both the big screen and streaming landscape. His career contributions include working on notable film and digital projects such as Balagam, ATM, and Janaka Aithe Ganaka.

Combining sharp market instincts with a deep passion for narrative craft, Meher continues to drive cross-platform content strategies that resonate with modern audiences.

Mounika Tula is the founder of Avolve Business Solutions, a Chennai-based consulting firm that helps global companies scale in the Indian market—taking them from Strategy to Success. Through market study, business development, and operations setup, she bridges international businesses with India’s growth opportunities.

With over 13 years of experience spanning Amazon and Product companies, Mounika brings deep expertise in Business development, Customer success and Go-to-market strategy leadership. She’s passionate about building things that scale and helping companies find their footing in one of the world’s most dynamic markets.

Nandini has built everything from educational curriculum for rural students to multi-thousand-person festivals, from cybersecurity marketing campaigns to creative editorial fashion shoots. Across every room, her method has been the same: design the experience like it was built for each person specifically, ask for their feedback, and act on it. For Nandini, accountability isn’t a value she talks about — it’s the mechanism that makes community real.

 Niharika grew up in Malaysia and has now finally returned to her birthplace with a purpose. OneTen has been an idea close to her family’s heart for a long time, and it has finally come to life – a space in which they get to feed, connect and meet people whose paths they may never have crossed otherwise.

Niral Uprit is a 20-year-old Kathak dancer, entrepreneur, and storyteller whose work sits at the intersection of art, rhythm, and technology. She started Kathak at five and trained alongside school right through her boards, earning both her Visharad (with distinction, city topper) and her Alankar, and holds a Guinness World Record from the Khajuraho Dance Festival. She has performed at some of India’s largest cultural festivals, was the youngest performer at the Bhopal Literature Festival, and has been recognised at IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Indore, and IIM Indore, with a guest lecture most recently at IIM Ranchi.

A month after finishing her Kathak Alankar, she started building Technrityam, India’s first practice platform for Indian classical arts. Currently, she is part of a startup hacker house in Hyderabad backed by The Residency, T-Hub, and T-Works, and part of Nova – India’s first female startup residency.

Nirmesh is an Interdisciplinary artist and a Researcher

Parnika Thummalachetty is the founder of The Circle and Studio Circle, two ventures working at the intersection of circular fashion, design, and community. Through resale, textile revival, and bespoke design, her work extends the life of clothing while building more conscious ways of creating and consuming fashion.

A law graduate from NALSAR University of Law, Parnika transitioned from a career in corporate law and social impact consulting to entrepreneurship, driven by a belief that creativity and sustainability can shape stronger local economies. Her ventures have helped rehome and revive over a thousand garments, collaborated with artisans, designers, and creators, and built communities around conscious fashion in Hyderabad.

Today, she works across entrepreneurship, design, content creation, modelling and public advocacy, with a focus on strengthening India’s creative and circular economy through policy, collaboration, and culture.

Pranathi is a pastry chef trained in New York at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). Since childhood, her primary passion has always been arts and crafts, and through baking, she found her truest medium for artistic expression. Walking the streets of New York and experiencing its diverse global cuisine and sophisticated international palate further fueled her ambition: to make that extraordinary, world-class culinary experience truly tangible and feasible right here in the city

Priyanjana is the Founder of Late Checkout, which works on building communities and bringing people, brands and concepts together, through curated events.

Pushpa Bhaskar is a casting director with over a decade of experience in the Telugu film industry. She began her journey as a Radio Jockey at All India Radio, where she worked for 6 years, and later spent 4 years as a faculty member at Annapurna College of Film and Media. With a strong passion for discovering and guiding talent, she started her own casting agency and has since worked on several feature films. She also conducts actor training workshops focused on audition techniques, helping aspiring actors prepare for real industry opportunities.

Rohith is the Founder and Creative Director at True Black coffee and the Co-founder at Matti Pilla

Santo Mohan Veeranki is a writer-director, filmmaker and storyteller. He directed Stand Up Rahul, founded the storytelling community Tale Tellers Troupe, and is an ex-aerospace designer. He currently works with an OTT platform, leading Telugu Original Films and Series for South India.

Sayeeda is the Co-founder of Hyderabad Hustlers, which is a story-focused media channel

Sowmya Maheswaran has been an actor and director for 20 years with a portfolio of plays in English, Hindi & Telugu. Presently, her initiative ‘Ameya- Drama for Neurodiverse’, takes the major chunk of her focus as she continues to juggle her Theatre Productions and Process Drama work with young minds. Also, she is a proud mother of a 14-year-old and one of the few qualified trainers in India for Trinity College London and LAMDA certifications.

Suhani Dhadphale is the Founder of Sangam India, a venture studio building creative and cultural businesses through its ecosystem spanning 11:11 Flea (market access), a marketing studio, and co-building ventures with founders. An Economics graduate and alumna of the Indian School of Business’ iVenture Immersive, where Sangam India was incubated, she has spent the last six years working at the intersection of entrepreneurship, culture, and community, helping creative businesses scale sustainably.

Sushma is a musical standup comedian, entertaining audiences with clean comedy and twisted lyrics, while juggling her 9-5 as a Senior Manager at ServiceNow for Product Content and hustling her life with her 6-year-old daughter, who inspired her to pursue comedy!

Swathi and Vijay are a husband-and-wife artist duo who introduced street art to Hyderabad in 2012, transforming public spaces with vibrant graffiti and murals on walls and buildings across the city.

Both of them are graduates with a Master of Fine Arts from JNTU; they have continued our artistic collaboration with a strong focus on social development. For them, the street is their canvas, and everyday life is their inspiration. Their work often serves as a visual commentary on current social issues, creating thought-provoking imagery that compels the public to reflect on overlooked realities.

This distinctive approach earned them the French Embassy and Krishnakriti Foundation Scholarship in 2013, which took them to France for a nine-month residency at the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), Paris.

Since then, they have expanded their international presence, exhibiting at Biwako Biennale (Japan), Muralis (Dax, France), in Canada, and at Christie’s Auction in London.

Their commitment to social impact through art was recognised with the Sakshi Excellence Award in the field of Social Impact and Development (2018) and as Young Achievers of the Year 2017.

Bhavani is a mum to two boys, an Architect and an Author among other things. Good Food, Good Music and meaningful conversations excite her. She wears many hats and enjoys them all.

Udhvithaa is a Hyderabad-based creator and actress who blends entertainment and lifestyle content with a strong background in social impact and community work.

Vaishnavi Rao is the Founder of Mission Good Food, a clean-label food company reimagining everyday staples for the modern Indian consumer. With a Master’s degree in Marketing from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, she combines consumer insight, brand strategy, and product innovation to build food products that are both nutritious and convenient.

Her entrepreneurial journey is rooted in a simple belief: healthy food shouldn’t be complicated or inaccessible. Today, she is focused on building a consumer-first FMCG brand that makes clean-label eating practical, affordable, and enjoyable, while navigating the opportunities and challenges of scaling across retail and quick commerce.

Vaishnavi is a Data Engineer who’s currently building a Kombucha business. She loves reading, meeting people and making new experiences!