WK Holdings to invest $100 million in Telangana startups

Hyderabad:Walsh Karra Holdings, a US-based investment firm, will invest $100 crore in startups in Telangana over the next five years.

The company made the announcement while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WE Hub, India’s first government-led women entrepreneurship organisation.

Phani Karra and Greg Walsh of Walsh Karra Holdings and Sita Pallacholla, CEO of WE Hub, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding guaranteeing a $5 million investment in WE Hub over the next five years.

The MoU was signed in New York in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revant Reddy and Minister for Industries and Information Technology D. Sridhar Babu during their official visit to the US to explore opportunities for new partnerships and investments for the state.

As per the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Revanth Reddy congratulated the entire team for the success.

“Women entrepreneurship will liberate our society and unleash the truest potential of Telangana. No society can achieve its full potential without enabling and empowering women,” the Prime Minister said.

“Through this initiative, WKH will also invest $100 million in startups incubated across the Telangana ecosystem over the next five years, both incubated within and outside the WE Hub, thereby becoming a reliable partner in the development story of both urban and rural Telangana,” said Greg Walsh.

Walsh Karra Holdings (WKH), co-founded by seasoned global entrepreneurs and investors Greg Walsh and Phani Karra, operates in the US and Singapore. It is uniquely positioned to identify and develop new investment opportunities to power the sustainable economy of the next century.

It supports early stage and growth companies that demonstrate a commitment to solutions that model innovation, sustainability and profitability. By investing in these solutions, WKH aims not only to accelerate their scalability but also to contribute to building a more sustainable future.

“I studied at Osmania University and started my career in Hyderabad, which allowed me to succeed internationally. The gratitude I feel towards India and Hyderabad made me start looking for ways to give back. Through this partnership, we have found a reliable agency that will ensure that our investments have a positive impact in India,” said Phani Karra.

According to the CMO, in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of empowering more and more women to become drivers of economic development in the country, WE Hub will implement targeted programmes and world-class entrepreneurship, incubation and acceleration programmes over the next five years.

This investment by WKH will provide a much-needed, timely boost to accelerate the growth of WE Hub and the advancement of women entrepreneurs.

Sita Pallacholla said the investment will be used to design and implement a flagship international standards programme for women entrepreneurs in India.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister, Minister Sridhar Babu and other members of the delegation visited the New York Stock Exchange.

“It was rather a stroke of luck for us that we could begin our journey to the US to bring investments to Telangana with a visit to the historic New York Stock Exchange – an institution that is arguably the heart of the US and global economy. An icon that stands as a testament to the history of wealth creators who have shaped our world,” the CMO wrote in a post on X.

“It was wonderful to tour the building, to learn about its achievements, its eloquent statement of greatness, to witness such a long history of economics being written. My colleague D. Sridhar Babu and several team members have returned with greater determination to write scripts and replicate an equally incredible history at home,” it added.