Bilişim Vadisi Brought Entrepreneurs and Investors in Demoday

Bilişim Vadisi, the sector’s leader in contributions to the mobility and entrepreneurship ecosystem, organized the 3rd Mobility Acceleration Program. Entrepreneurs who developed their business ideas through trainings, mentorships from national/international experts in their fields, and seminars throughout the program met with investors on June 8 at the Demoday.

Mobility, as one of strongest focal points of Bilişim Vadisi, continues to transform and facilitate many aspects of life by utilizing fewer natural resources but more technological possibilities. The third Mobility Acceleration Program, which has been held every year since 2021, was completed after 8 weeks of training with mentors from both the national and international arenas. With the program it launched to develop mobility-oriented business ideas, Bilişim Vadisi helped 38 entrepreneurs advance their projects this year. Entrepreneurs in the Mobility Acceleration Program presented their initiatives to investors and the mobility industry at Demoday as part of the program’s scope.

We Will Improve The Quality Of The Mobile Acceleration Program Every Year

Speaking at the program held in Bilişim Vadisi, Türkiye’s technology and innovation hub, A. Serdar İbrahimcioğlu, General Manager of Bilişim Vadisi said; “We have been organizing Mobility Acceleration Programs since 2021. Our main purpose in acceleration programs is to use the transformative effect of informatics. The automotive sector is one of the strongest and most export-oriented sectors in Türkiye. As Bilişim Vadisi, we have brought together informatics and automotive and organized them under the banner of mobility technologies. We received over a thousand entrepreneur applications in three years. More than 120 entrepreneurs received mentoring, training, seminars, and the opportunity to benefit from investment funds, and we collaborated with the developments at the sales and PoC stages. We opened a different area in the acceleration program we organized this year that can be directed to both Advanced Entrepreneurship Support of Small And Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB) and TUBITAK BIGG (Entrepreneurship Support Program) support. We had the opportunity to direct 4 of these entrepreneurs for KOSGEB Advanced Entrepreneurship Support and 3 of them for TUBITAK BIGG. We have also added international mentoring to this acceleration program. Entrepreneurs were trained by executives from multinational corporations and mentored by our international entrepreneurs. We also brought together these entrepreneurs and the Bilişim Vadisi Venture Capital Investment Fund. Our goal is to improve the quality of the Mobility Accelerator Program every year.”

Initiatives That Will Play a Role In The Future Of Mobility Were Introducted to The Sector

Within the scope of Demoday, Newky, a promising startup that transforms cell phones into digital keys using users’ biometric data, Oxodes, a platform developed for the precise detection of quality and assembly defects in production facilities, Hasar AI, an artificial intelligence algorithm developed to determine the damages and estimated damage costs of vehicles, Datasence, an enterprise open source platform solution, Batarya Zekası, the health monitoring platform for electric vehicles, Fabenode, working in the field of wearable technology, High Tech Mobi, an electric bicycle startup, Academic Sight with its artificial intelligence-supported quality control processes project, Connected Wise with its project in the field of connected autonomous vehicle technologies, Merlyn with its two-seater electric micro-vehicle initiative, and Packard developing portable air conditioners and refrigerators were introduced to the sector.

Over 400 Applications, 38 Selected Projects

The international jury selected 38 projects from over 400 applications as worthy of support under the Mobility Acceleration Program, which was initiated by Bilişim Vadisi to guide entrepreneurs who will shape the future mobility ecosystem in Türkiye in areas such as mentorship, financial and legal consultancy, project follow-up support, and R&D incentives. During the eight-week program, trainings titled “Customer Segmentation and Value Proposition Identification,” “Determining KPIs and Targets,” “Market/Competitor Research and Analysis,” “Cash Flow Management, Financial Analyses,” “Sales and Marketing Methods and Management,” “Training on Intellectual Property Rights,” “International Market Entry, Growth Strategy, Exit Strategy,” “Investor-Entrepreneur Relations, Investment Acquisition Processes,” and “Preparing a Pitch Deck,” were provided by experts in their fields.

While the jury committee, comprised of executives from Bilişim Vadisi, mobility sector executives, and professionals, selected 11 promising startups, a total of 30 startups were given the opportunity to meet with investors and companies by opening booths in the Demoday foyer area.

Utilization Of Public Grant Programs and Investment Funds

The program’s entrepreneurs were directed to the KOSGEB Advanced Entrepreneurship Program, which provided TRY 1 million in support, and three of these initiatives were included in the process to benefit from the program. Furthermore, four of the entrepreneurs who were directed to the TUBITAK BIGG Techno-Entrepreneurship Support Program with TRY 450,000 investment support were chosen to participate in the program. Before Demoday, Mobility Acceleration Program initiatives were directed to investment funds in order to accelerate their investment processes. Accordingly, four startups have begun negotiations with investment funds and investors.

While 5 of the initiatives participating in the program were directed to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), 7 initiatives were planned. Within the scope of the program, eighteen startups applied to the Bilişim Vadisi Incubation Center and were given the opportunity to benefit from the Bilişim Vadisi ecosystem.

Demoday concluded with visits to the booths where 30 entrepreneurs presented their projects.