SITUATION
The city of Denizli in southwestern Turkey has a young, growing population of high potential entrepreneurs. With a talent pool anchored by Denizli Pamukkale University – home to more than 45,000 students – the city stands among the country’s top 10 economic hubs. Famous for its textile, tourism and culinary industries, emerging sectors such as game development are showing new promise for the economy.
With a strong student population and growing emphasis on innovation, technology and emerging industries, local community leaders needed a physical space for students, founders, investors, mentors and others to connect, collaborate and share knowledge and networks.
APPROACH
Habitat Association, a non-governmental organization operating GEN programs in Turkey and leading other social capacity-building and impact-oriented projects, approached GEN about opening a physical startup hub to fill this connectivity gap. GEN granted Habitat a license to operate a space under the GEN Campus brand, and provided counsel to the local team on its development and operational plans.
GEN Campus Denizli officially opened in October 2022 with support from local partners including DEGİAD, TÜRKONFED, TÜSİAD, and KAGİDER. The campus is housed at the DEGIAD administrative building, also the home of Turkey’s young business owners' association.
IMPACT
In its first year of operation, GEN Campus Denizli hosted more than 600 students, founders, investors and other members of the entrepreneurship ecosystem for dozens of events – from venture days to entrepreneurship talks, investment sessions, speed networking and more. It also houses GEN programming in the country, including the Entrepreneurship World Cup, Global Entrepreneurship Week and Startup Huddle.
A workshop for university students and young entrepreneurs connected rising founders with entrepreneurial role models and opportunities to share ideas and business plans. “This chance was never given to us before GEN Campus,” said participant Muhammet Tutuk. “We are so happy to meet successful entrepreneurs and learn how to set up our business plans.”
At another event, entrepreneurs met with and pitched to venture capitalists. “How GEN Campus Denizli helped us is beyond words,” said entrepreneur İrem Çorak. “It helped us to prepare our presentations and how we should talk about our startups. It was a very big experience for us.”
GEN Campus has become a centralized hub supporting connectivity and new opportunities for entrepreneurs in the region. Following its success, plans are underway to open additional campuses throughout Turkey.