The Goal of 100,000 Novel Technology Initiatives
Bilişim Vadisi Venture Capital Investment Fund began to produce the results. In addition to Bilişim Vadisi, Albaraka Türk Participation Bank, Vakıf Katılım, and KOSGEB participated to the fund, which invested in 11 firms. The enterprises that got investment from the fund, which was launched in Turkey for the first time in collaboration with a technopark and participation banks, were introduced at Bilişim Vadisi, Turkey’s technology and innovation hub.
Speaking at the occasion, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank indicated that the government will soon release their National Technology Entrepreneurship Strategy, adding, “Our goal is to build 100,000 technology firms by 2030. By 2030, Turkey will have one of the top ten most developed ecosystems for technology entrepreneurship in the world. We will make Istanbul one of the top 20 entrepreneurship centers in the world.”
SIZE OF THE FUND: 300 MILLION TRY
Bilişim Vadisi, Albaraka Türk Participation Bank, and Vakıf Katılım Bank formed the Venture Capital Investment Fund in 2021 with an initial capital of 100 million TRY. Later, with additional investments from KOSGEB, the relevant Ministry of Industry and Technology institution, and Vakıf Katılım, the fund size reached 300 million TRY.
THOUSAND INITIATIVES WERE REVIEWED
The fund, which was founded with the goal of investing in civil technology businesses, reviewed roughly a thousand entrepreneurs before deciding to invest in 11 companies. A presentation conducted in Bilişim Vadisi introduced 11 startups that received financing from the fund.
11 ACTIVE INITIATIVES
Speaking at the event, Minister of Industry and Technology Mr. Varank expressed his pride in being a part of such programs, saying, “Today, we came together with eleven responsive businesses that we feel will mark the entrepreneurship league, to meet Turkey’s emerging technology stars.”
THEY BECOME A REPRESENTATION OF OUR COUNTRY.
Minister Varank emphasized that the first rule of being an entrepreneur is to be brave, saying, “While there were no companies, namely unicorns, that attained a billion-dollar valuation two years ago, the number of unicorns today has reached six. Peak games, fetch, dream games, trendyol, Hepsiburada, and insider all earned billion-dollar valuations and became global showcases for our country.”
STRATEGY FOR NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Varank announced that they will soon reveal their National Technology Entrepreneurship Strategy, stating, “Our goal here is to build 100,000 technology firms by 2030. In accordance with this purpose, we planned the complete infrastructure from start to finish. If our approach is properly implemented, the Turkish technology entrepreneurship ecosystem will be among the top ten most developed in the world by 2030. We will make Istanbul one of the top 20 entrepreneurship centers in the world.”
WE ARE 92 PERCENT OCCUPIED
Varank explained that Bilişim Vadisi is the largest of the Technology Development Zones, saying, “We enlarged Turkey’s mega-technology corridor from Kocaeli to Istanbul and Izmir. At the Bilişim Vadisi Kocaeli campus, we had a 92 percent occupancy rate. There are 311 enterprises in the information and communication technologies, software, electronics, energy, design, and games sectors, particularly mobility. Firm settlements began in Istanbul’s Bilişim Vadisi district. Bilişim Vadisi Izmir, for which we laid the groundwork in recent months, is quickly expanding.”
VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS
“We are gradually increasing the volume of entrepreneurship funds with funds such as Tech-InvesTR Venture Capital Fund, Technology and Innovation Fund, Regional Development Fund, and Istanbul Regional Venture Capital Fund, which we have recently pioneered,” Varank said, pointing out that venture capital funds are one of the driving forces in the acceleration of the entrepreneurship ecosystem and added, “Today, Bilişim Vadisi Venture Capital Investment Fund, which we launched in 2021, produces a leveraging effect in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.”
BİLİŞİM VADİSİ WILL BE THE PIONEER
Following the ceremony, Minister Varank met with entrepreneurs who had received investment. In response to journalists’ questions, Varank stated that they established this Venture Capital Investment Fund to provide financial support to entrepreneurs, noting, “We established this fund in a way that encourages the private sector to invest in these areas, particularly by investing in promising technologies. We embarked on this journey with Vakıf Katılım, Albaraka. KOSGEB is now also included. There are bidders from a variety of institutions. Bilişim Vadisi will spearhead Turkey’s technological development journey. Our structures are now being constructed in İzmir. We will direct technologies in Turkey under the Bilişim Vadisi brand.”
WE WILL PROVIDE STRONG SUPPORT
Hasan Basri Kurt, President of KOSGEB, stated that they are at a critical juncture in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and that KOSGEB has made a substantial contribution to the firms that have received financing. KOSGEB President Kurt claimed that they analyzed the results from this in the Venture Capital Investment Fund after transferring cash to Istanbul Venture Capital in 2007. “As KOSGEB, we will continue to strongly support both the funds and the funds of the funds,” Kurt said, emphasizing the necessity of catching entrepreneurs at an early stage.
THE OUTPUT OF 16 MONTHS OF WORK
Bilişim Vadisi General Manager A. Serdar İbrahimcioğlu stated, “We are aiming to establish an atmosphere where we can transfer the innovations, we have produced in the defense industry over the previous 20 years to civilian fields,” noting that Bilişim Vadisi was designed to pioneer useful technologies that will change the world in the national and international arena. General Manager İbrahimcioğlu stated that as a result of a 16-month study, they decided to invest in 11 startups working in the field of civil technologies, emphasizing that the Venture Capital Investment Fund was also implemented for the purpose of accessing finance, which is the biggest problem for startups.
ALBARAKA PRESENTATION
Before the program’s opening statements, attended by Kocaeli Governor Seddar Yavuz and Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Mustafa Keçeli of Albaraka Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. Venture Capital Investment Funds delivered information about the fund. He said that they are seeking for companies that will export technology to the rest of the world as they aim to bring together the appropriate investor and the right entrepreneur through this fund.
INVESTMENT VENTURES
Eleven of the companies that received investment in the program also gave presentations. The fund invested in 11 startups, including Vagon Teknoloji, Syntonym, Cowealthy, Virtual AI, For Farming, Peyk Cyber Security, Kronnika, Dusyeri, Forwarder Smart Delivery, Jetlexa, and Craftgate.
CIVIL TECHNOLOGIES
Bilişim Vadisi Venture Capital Investment Fund was established with the goal of investing in companies in the field of “Civil Technologies,” such as information and communication technologies, games, finance, cyber security, mobility, agriculture, health, and energy, that have achieved product and market harmony from technology-based companies and whose target market is established and ready for high growth.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THE FUND?
Enterprises applying to the fund shall have completed their corporate organization and have carried out sales. Companies who invest in the fund are obliged to relocate or construct their headquarters or R&D offices in Bilişim Vadisi. Therefore, applicant enterprises are expected to meet the requirements for carrying out activities at technoparks.
