The fourth and final International Visit organised within the scope of the First Cohort of the Accelerate İzmir Programme under the İzmir NIC Project managed by Teknopark İzmir was successfully held in Germany between 13-18 March 2023.
Within the scope of the “Internationalisation” Plus Service offered by Accelerate İzmir, Empactivo and FSSoftware, which are among the First Cohort companies of the Acceleration Programme were participants of the visit to Germany. Empactivo, which offers employee interaction software solutions for employee recognition, audio listening (with heart rate surveys, HR Analytics), appreciation and social reward, and FSSoftware, which offers software packages developed with high technology by experienced teams and constantly update their technology to keep up with developing IT Technologies, had the opportunity to meet with companies and connections specific to their fields. Within the scope of the programme, 41 one-on-one meetings were held in different visits specially organised for Accelerate İzmir companies.
The first of the cooperation visits was held in Munich on March 13, and Izmir NIC Project OCU Member Miray Karakuzu and Project Team Leader and Key Expert David Tee held one-to-one collaboration meetings with Strategic Project Manager David Kasipovic at German Entrepreneurship and conducted entrepreneurship-focused discussions. Following the Munich visit, Teknopark İzmir and İzmir NIC Project representatives visited WERK1- “the most startup-friendly place in Munich” to see different perspectives regarding the startup workplaces.
First day of the cooperation visits continued with Yunus Emre Aslan from Empactivo and Burç Uzalp from FSSoftware by meeting with “Countercheck” and had one-to-one meetings with Software Lead Onur Çevik, focused on the software industry. At the last meeting of the first day, companies had a meeting with “Shelly” which develops software to improve sleep quality and had dicsussions with Founding Partner Kemal Apaydın about technology-oriented business development.
The second day started with the visit of Teknopark İzmir and İzmir NIC Project representatives to The Munich Innovation Ecosystem (MUST). They met Ecosystem Manager Nicole Thorpe and Project Manager Dr. Marcel Lotz to talk about startup and innovation ecosystems. The last meeting of the second day was concluded with the visit of Accelerate İzmir companies to Mr. Okan Özoğlu, the Secretary General of the Turkish-German Industry and Trade Association in Berlin, and they had the chance to present their companies.
As part of the third day of the cooperation visits, a meeting was held with “TI-People” in Hamburg with the participation of Empactivo and Teknopark İzmir Representatives on March 15. At the meeting, where Project Manager Timo Tischer shared his experiences, Empactivo was provided with information and cooperation connections.
Following the visit, Empactivo, FSSoftware and Teknopark İzmir Representatives met with “Vay Technology’s” Financial Manager Yasemin Erensoy in Berlin on March 16 and had the opportunity to gain new connections. Turkish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce-TD-IHK was the second stop of Empactivo and Teknopark İzmir Representatives, and meetings and information transfer were held with Mr. Okan Özoğlu and Ms. Nalan Yetim.
On the last day of the visit, Companies and Teknopark İzmir Representatives visited Berlin Embassy Commercial Counselors Mr. Abdullah Soylu and Mr. Mehmet Sefa Saral. While emphasizing the support offered by the Embassy for entrepreneurs, Accelerate İzmir Companies had the opportunity to introduce and present their entrepreneurships. In the second meeting that followed, a meeting was held with Belgin Kaplan, Managing Director of Kaplan Group with FSSoftware and future collaborations were discussed. Also, Empactivo and Teknopark Representatives met with XING-New York and had productive discussions with Product Manager Serkan Baydın. At the last meeting of the program, Empactivo and Teknopark İzmir representatives met with Maxi Digital CEO Salih Zeki Çimen in Berlin and gained new international connections.
Within the scope of the visits to Germany, where many new network connections were gained on behalf of the İzmir NIC Project and Teknopark İzmir, the project activities and the İzmir entrepreneurship ecosystem were introduced, important cooperation steps were taken towards internationalisation and potential partners were acquired. The visits were completed successfully during the one-week programme period.
İzmir NIC – İzmir Network and Innovation Centre Project
İzmir Network and Innovation Centre (İzmir NIC) Project, is implemented by Teknopark İzmir within the scope of the Ministry of Industry and Technology Competitive Sectors Programme, realised with the financial support of the European Union and the Republic of Turkey, aiming to enhance the commercialisation and internationalisation of innovative products, by fostering networks and strategic partnership among relevant stakeholders. The project, focusing on ICT and RE sectors, which are among the pioneers of economic development; aims to increase the capacities of innovation ecosystem actors (SME, Start-up, TTO, TGB, R&D Centres, etc.) in İzmir through training, Acceleration programmes, mentoring support, and networking activities.
The project, implemented with partners İzmir Institute of Technology (İYTE) and the Software Industrialists Association (YASAD), will run for 3 years.
