Established by Yildiz Technical University with the aim of contributing to R&D activities in our country and becoming a technology development zone in line with the entrepreneurial university model, Yildiz Technopark is currently serving in an R&D office area of 170k m2. We met with Prof. Mesut Guner, General Manager of Yildiz Teknopark, which takes part in all stages of the process of transforming new ideas into value-creating outputs and continues its activities with the vision of becoming an international cooperation center, and talked about the activities of Technopark, which hosts more than 7,000 qualified R&D and software personnel.
Can you tell us about the activities of the Technopark?
It was founded at Yildiz Technical University Davutpasa Campus and continues its grow in line with the principle of sustainable development. With the commissioning of our Ikitelli Campus of 23,500 m2 at the end of 2014, we are now serving on an area of 148k m2. Yildiz Technopark hosts a total of 427 companies and more than 7k qualified R&D personnel carrying out R&D activities for many sectors such as software, information and communication technologies, telecommunications, electronics, pharmaceuticals, machinery and equipment manufacturing, chemistry, aviation, energy, defense industry, construction and food.
How many companies are there in the Technopark? Which sectors are there mostly companies from?
There are 427 companies in total in our Technopark today. While 74% of our companies operate in the field of software and information, 5% work in electronics and 3% work in machinery and production fields. The total share of the remaining sectors is 18%.
Can you give information about the application for Technopark and the steps that should be taken?
In order to benefit from the support and exemptions provided by the Technology Development Zones Law No. 4691, the entrepreneurial companies that want to take part in the Technology Development Zone of Yildiz Technical University should apply to Yildiz TGB Teknopark A.S. Rental Unit for detailed information. According to the relevant law, applications are accepted on a project basis. Applications can be made from the ”Online Application“ link on the ”Yildiz Technopark" web page.
Once you said, ”We will take our companies to the Champions League of entrepreneurship”. How many companies have you moved to Silicon Valley at Starcamp?
Opening our companies to foreign markets is very important for us. For this purpose, we have implemented the “Starcamp Entrepreneurial Acceleration Program”, the first Turkish incubation center at Silicon Valley, in cooperation with five universities. Starcamp, located in Silicon Valley where 30% of the world’s venture capital is located, is aimed at all companies and entrepreneurs, especially Yildiz Technopark and Yildiz Incubation companies, to market their innovative and technological products to international markets and further increase their export volumes. In this context, we offer mentoring services, soft-landing programs and provide virtual office and active office services in Silicon Valley in the US. Starcamp offers many opportunities to entrepreneurs from Türkiye such as consulting, training, work spaces, incubation offices, patent partnerships, trade delegation organizations and acceleration programs. Acceleration programs for entrepreneurs are organized at regular intervals at Starcamp, where training programs are also offered regularly. So far, acceleration programs for 50 startups, delegation services to 30 companies and company founding services to 40 companies have been provided and 20 investor processes have been completed.
What are you providing to entrepreneurs with your ”Star Incubator" project? How many companies are there here?
Currently, 140 of our companies are operating at Yildiz Incubator. At Yildiz Incubator, the largest incubation center in Türkiye, we “accelerate” entrepreneurs with a training and mentoring program and provide them with free support about intellectual rights, projects and investor relations. Especially for entrepreneurs who produce hardware, we offer the opportunity to use a prototype workshop where they can produce their first products. Also, we are the most equipped incubation center with our Starcamp in Silicon Valley, aiming for entrepreneurs who want to move their products to global, and the revenue generated is around 3.3 billion TRY. Contributing to the development of high value-added products and carrying out studies to close the current account deficit of our country are among our main goals. Our technology transfer office aims to provide sustainable cooperation based on mutual trust between academicians and industrialists. One of the departments that comes first among the activities of Yıldız TTO is university-industry business associations. The number of university-industry cooperation projects developed for this purpose, which is among the major topics we attach special importance to, has exceeded 300.
”With our Starcamp incubation center in Silicon Valley,
we are now the most equipped incubation center.”
What differentiates you from other technoparks?
First of all, we also home to the largest incubation center in our country. This large incubation ecosystem provides significant advantages to entrepreneurs. We have a young, dynamic and experienced team. According to the results of the Technology Development Zones Performance Index prepared by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, we are the Best Emerging Technology Development Zone in 2017. In the overall ranking, we were selected as the fifth best Technology Development Region of Türkiye.
Starcamp, the first Turkish incubation center in Silicon Valley, USA, also bears Yildiz Teknopark signature. Starcamp is a very important organization that offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to bring their innovative and technological products to global markets and increase their export volumes. One of our distinguishing features is the indoor office facility we offer at our incubation center. Instead of an open office concept that is common at other incubation centers, we offer entrepreneurs their own indoor offices. The advanced production facilities of the workshop, which was established in 2014 and is the first prototype workshop in Türkiye, help entrepreneurs to materialize their projects. Among the products produced at Yildiz Prototype Workshop so far are many different products from an F16 simulator to a traction device used for the treatment of herniated disc, or from a 3D printer to a bellows used to protect the cylinder part in hydraulic presses, and a Cat6 cable winding machine.
Could you tell us about the R&D activities of the Technopark?
The number of projects accepted into our Technopark has exceeded three thousand. The revenue generated from these projects is around 3.3 billion TRY. Contributing to the development of high value-added products and carrying out studies to close the current account deficit of our country are among our main goals. Our technology transfer office aims to provide sustainable cooperation based on mutual trust between academicians and industrialists. One of the departments that comes first among the activities of Yıldız TTO is university-industry business associations. The number of university-industry cooperation projects developed for this purpose, which is among the major topics we attach special importance to, has exceeded 300.
Could you share with us your entrepreneurial stories that came to the fore with their successes at Yıldız Technopark?
First of all, I would like to emphasize that all our companies are equally valuable to us. A few of our initiatives shown as Unicorn candidates are as follows:
Biolive
The studies that started with bioplastic films produced from olive seeds continued with the transformation of films into granules that can be used in all areas of plastic. Today, the company is working on granules that can be used in many areas besides bioplastic refrigerator technology, including food containers, food packaging, textiles, hygiene materials, organic toys and baby pacifiers.
Aiborne
It is a semi-autonomous robotic hand and arm prosthesis supported by AI and image processing algorithms. The most important feature of the company engaging in the production of intelligent robotics, prosthetic hands and arms, is that the robot prostheses available on the market translate EMG signals into commands such as on/off and transmit them directly to the joints. Aiborne created an intelligent system that allows the finger joints to be adjusted according to the object that the prosthesis should hold, to ensure that the angles are determined by the integral processor. Thus, the artificial intelligence algorithms decide which joint will be closed and for how long it will be kept closed, in order to comprehend different objects.
Gen Otomobil
They work on TM 480, which will be the first electric car of Türkiye. Its interior and exterior design, mechanical design, whole chassis, bodywork and engine will be locally produced. Also, the engine drive, electronic equipment, all control units and the software belong to our company.
Haus Food
Haus Food is dedicated to developing an lyophilization-enabled food drying machine to be used in fruit drying operations. With the project, 100% natural “fruit chips” that can be eaten any season and that contains no additives, coloring or preservatives to change its appearance or color will be produced.
What are the technological trends of today's world? In what direction is the technology of the future moving?
With Industry 4.0, digitalization has covered almost every field. The systems began to learn, improve themselves and communicate with each other. Today, almost any object contains in its name the term “smart”. The Internet of Things revolution, started in 1999, is almost seen on any object we use today. In the future, more autonomous systems will be in operation, and more qualified human resources will be needed in these areas.
What are the necessary reforms that our country should make to be competitive globally in terms of R&D and innovation?
In this era of the information economy, enterprises need to attach importance to R&D and innovation, and allocate significant sources in order to survive and maintain their competitiveness. In order to encourage organizations in this regard, the governments should continue offering incentives and support mechanisms. Another issue is the creation of qualified human resources, which is the most important aspect for R&D activities. When more funds are allocated, the R&D activities will increase, and qualified human resources will be ensured to remain in these activities.
