Türkiye this week unveiled particulars of a brand new technique and program designed to assist uncover new corporations with the potential to change into unicorns – startups with a valuation of over $1 billion.
Attended by Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank, the National Technology Entrepreneurship Strategy and Turcorn 100 Program was unveiled at an occasion that additionally noticed new monetary assist being introduced for startups in search of to embark on a world journey.
Varank mentioned the nationwide technique seeks to create a pioneering startup ecosystem that may allow the event of certified human sources, encourage entrepreneurship and enhance financing alternatives.
On the opposite hand, the minister mentioned the Turcorn 100 Program aimed toward serving to Türkiye to get new corporations that attain billion-dollar valuations.
Meanwhile, functions for the International Accelerator Support Program have began. Startups, in addition to funding funds and technoparks in Türkiye, will be capable to profit from this acceleration program assist. Up to $50,000 {dollars} of assist shall be supplied per initiative.
Among prime 10 nations
Varank mentioned round $330 billion, roughly half of the funding registered in 2021, was seen in 26,000 funding rounds within the first 9 months of this yr.
“Last year, 329 startups in Türkiye broke the all-time record by receiving a total investment of more than $1.6 billion. We have achieved almost the same figures in the nine months of 2022 and we think we will surpass them at the end of the year,” the minister mentioned.
“We have taken our place among the top 10 countries with the most investments. We see that the number of venture capital fund owners, angel investment and crowdfunding platforms are also increasing gradually.”
Highlighting the significance of the roles of technology-oriented corporations within the economic system, Varank mentioned that because of this, they’ve made technology-based entrepreneurship the main focus of each their growth plans and the 2023 Industry and Technology Strategy.
New Turcorns
Varank acknowledged that Turcorn 100 is a program that they’ve designed to deliver out new corporations which have reached a billion-dollar valuation from Türkiye inside the framework of this imaginative and prescient doc.
“This is a tailor-made program. If we want to reach new unicorns with the Turcorn 100 Program, it is a tailor-made program in which we can focus on which areas we need to intervene, where we need to invest. In this sense, we believe that our companies that benefit from this program will be able to achieve really important successes,” he famous.
Drone exports
The occasion was additionally marked by the attendance of Selçuk Bayraktar, the chief expertise officer (CTO) of Baykar, the developer of the Bayraktar TB2, an unmanned fight aerial automobile (UCAV) that earned international fame for its essential function in a number of conflicts.
Bayraktar spoke of the protection and expertise firm’s journey from its first crewless aerial platform to a stage at the moment the place it has been pushed into the worldwide highlight and remodeled into a significant producer and exporter.
He additionally elaborated on unprecedented demand from overseas for his or her UCAVs and in addition mentioned the corporate’s tasks, spearheaded by Bayraktar Kızılelma, Türkiye’s first unmanned fight fighter jet.
In what turned out to be an emotional speech as Bayraktar talked of clues of the genetic codes owned by the corporate, he underlined that 75% of Baykar’s UCAVs have been exported.
Bayraktar additionally underlined {that a} new period would start with the Bayraktar Kızılelma, which simply final week accomplished its maiden flight.
The occasion was additionally attended by Presidency’s Investment Office head Burak Dağlığlu and Turkish Airlines Chair Ahmet Bolat, in addition to executives of many outstanding stakeholders of the nationwide entrepreneurship technique and Turcorn program, together with Amazon, Softtech, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Turkcell and IT Valley.
Bayraktar’s spouse, Sümeyye Erdoğan, who can also be the daughter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and deputy ministers of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacır and Çetin Ali Dönmez, additionally attended the occasion.
