The eighth Global Entrepreneurship Week in Turkey officially opened today at Borsa Istanbul’s Headquarters in Istanbul with the attendance of GEW Turkey partners from around the country. This year the number of partners has reached 220.
During the opening ceremony, Turkey’s entrepreneurial leaders discussed the need for further progress of the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, and called for collaboration. Those leaders included Tuncay Dinç, general manager of Borsa İstanbul; Sezai Hazır, president of the International Entrepreneurship Center; and Sina Afra, Endeavor Turkey board member. Hasan Aslanoba, founding president of Aslanoba Capital and a super angel with 71 investments in Turkey, underlined during his speech the importance of diversity, patience and perseverance for early-stage investors.
During the second half of the opening ceremony, Endeavor Turkey’s Managing Director Didem Altop moderated a panel on the advancement of startup funding in Turkey from the perspectives of entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem feeders. Altop pointed out that the entrance of 500 Startups to Turkey and the establishment of more niche funding initiatives, such as a Women Entrepreneurs’ Investment Platform (Arya) and a Smart Transportation venture fund (Farplas), indicate that Turkey is already in a different league.
The opening ceremony concluded with an award ceremony highlighting Turkey’s fastest growing startups, top investors and angel networks in 2015.
Borsa Istanbul hosted the opening on the first birthday of Borsa İstanbul’s “Private Market” platform, which brings entrepreneurs and investors together without the need of being listed on the stock exchange.
Follow Turkey GEW celebrations online and at @girisimcilik, using the tag #GGH15.