The Istinye University (ISU) Entrepreneurship and Incubation Center, "Istinye Garage Incubation Hub," was officially opened on October 13th at the ISU Information Vadi Istanbul Campus. Mehmet Fatih Kacır, the Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Türkiye, who attended the opening, expressed his sincere congratulations on the addition of a new player to the Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem and stated, "The ISU Entrepreneurship and Incubation Center will be a hub for new tech ventures."
The Istinye University (ISU) Entrepreneurship and Incubation Center, "Istinye Garage Incubation Hub," was officially opened on October 13th at the ISU Information Valley Istanbul Campus. The ceremony was attended by Mehmet Fatih Kacır, the Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Türkiye, Dr. Muharrem Usta, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of ISU, Prof. Dr. Erkan İbiş, the Rector of ISU, Ahmet Serdar İbrahimcioğlu, the President of KOSGEB, and Talha Uzun, the Director of Istinye Garage Incubation Hub, as well as numerous academics and members of the press. The event began at 08:45 with a promotional video of Istinye Garage and continued with opening speeches.
"The ISU Entrepreneurship and Incubation Center will be a hub for new tech ventures," said Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır during his opening speech. He stated, "I feel the utmost happiness during openings where I meet young entrepreneurs. Today is such a day that brings us happiness, thanks to ISU and the stakeholders. I hope the ISU Incubation Center will bring goodness. Today, we will be together with entrepreneurs in two different openings. One will be at the Technology Development Zone on the European side, at the ISU Entrepreneurship and Incubation Center, which will be a hub for new tech ventures, and the other will be on the Anatolian side, becoming the new address for financial technology ventures. We will be together with the entrepreneurs who will make a mark on Türkiye's ventures. We are experiencing a day that is prideful in showing how active Istanbul's entrepreneurial ecosystem is. We consider such developments as an opportunity to build a 'fully independent Türkiye' in line with the vision of enhancing competitiveness and the national technology move in our country. We continue to take steps to strengthen the interaction of our universities with technology and innovation to transform the bright ideas of our young people and researchers into business models and ventures. Structures like the Incubation Center we are inaugurating together today play a critical role in meeting this need. Therefore, I thank everyone involved in the ISU Entrepreneurship and Incubation Center, especially our Chairman of the Board of Trustees and our Rector, once again in your presence. I sincerely congratulate the addition of a new player to the Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem. As the Ministry, we will continue to support the growing entrepreneurship culture in this ecosystem. In the upcoming period, under the leadership of our esteemed President, entrepreneurship will continue to be the main agenda item of our ministry with the claim of 'Century of Türkiye.' We will further accelerate this growth trend with strategies we develop and support programs. We will continue to be with entrepreneurs at every stage."
"We can reach a good position globally in education and entrepreneurship," said Dr. Muharrem Usta, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Istinye University, emphasizing that Türkiye can achieve much better positions in entrepreneurship and education.
He stated, "Istinye University was established to be among the 'best' in the world. It is a very young university. When we look at the scientific outputs, ISU is number one among the universities established in recent years. Last year, it was 19th among all foundation universities, and I predict that it will finish this year in the top 10. By 2025, our University, looking at the current trend, will be in the top three among foundation universities. We are building a beautiful campus. We are striving to build a university that will live for centuries. We want to leave a mark as a university that will contribute to the world for centuries after us, creating a distinguished institution that makes a difference in the field of education. With this motivation, we are working day and night to reach the best point in this journey. I believe that ISU will be talked about in the world in the next few years. Today, we are in a entrepreneurship ecosystem owned by the university. Our duty is to carry this start to the point we aim for. I try to support our esteemed Rector and our whole team, trying to support and open the way for them. We have a lot we can do with our Ministry of Industry and Technology. I have no doubt that we can come to a very good position globally in both education and entrepreneurship. Education is very important for this reason. I would like to express that we will continue to spend a significant part of my life in this field. I would like to mention that we are very excited. This excitement will always continue."
"Out of 71 firms, 49 belong to our academics, and 22 belong to our students," said Prof. Dr. Erkan İbiş, the Rector of ISU, stating that there are 71 firms in the center. He continued, "Universities need to develop the culture and vision of entrepreneurship by collaborating with industry, sector, and society. It needs to contribute to the process of turning knowledge into production and product. As ISU, along with the importance we attach to education, research, and R&D, we have put forward our vision in the context of turning knowledge into production. ISU is creating a field that will serve the society by not only producing qualified graduates with the vision of providing education but also presenting good entrepreneurs to the society with the vision of representing both the university and the industry. Today, we are in the Incubation Center. There are 71 companies here. Out of the 71 companies, 49 belong to our academics, and 22 belong to our students. Our center will support various ventures. Its mission and vision are significant. Of course, Mr. Minister, we leave the next stage to you. I know that you are a ‘stakeholder’ in this. We thank you for your support in the past and for honoring this opening by dedicating your valuable time. We thank everyone involved and congratulate the 100th anniversary of our Republic."
"We will continue to provide support," said Ahmet Serdar İbrahimcioğlu, the President of KOSGEB - Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization of Türkiye, stating that they will continue to support the center.
He continued, "Our first meeting with Mr. Muharrem Usta was here. First, we met with Rector Erkan Ibiş, then we went to Mr. Usta's office. We discussed the matter, how can it be done, what can we do? Because a hatchery center to be formed as a sponsorship project within the technology development zone has not been done yet. It was a structure like a 'matryoshka model.' While discussing all these, Mr. Muharrem showed ISU data. He makes all decisions based on data and pulls real-time data: 'I will measure every entrepreneur here, I will measure any mistake or deficiency, and I will intervene instantly in case of a problem related to growth and development.' Of course, he also has the companies he manages. In addition to that, from a clustering perspective, creating a hatchery center that can melt both the university and the industry by representing both in one pot has been realized here. We have accomplished a very important project together after the process. I must especially mention that, during this process, I always had our Minister behind me. We were consulting with him. He constantly supported us with his visionary leadership. After receiving the motivation, I completed this task with you. KOSGEB supports entrepreneurs, and our support to this place will continue."
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, networking and experience area activities were held. Following that, a vision presentation of Istinye Garage Incubation Hub and a panel on entrepreneurship with Garage Entrepreneurs were organized. After presentations on Entrepreneurship at the Speed of Light, the ceremony concluded with the presentation of plaques and a group photo.
Aims to provide an end-to-end entrepreneurship experience
Istinye Garage Incubation Hub, the Entrepreneurship and Incubation Center of Istinye University, was established in 2022. Istinye Garage Incubation Hub, with its strong support infrastructure, aims to support and grow startups seeking support for innovative ideas according to their needs, providing an end-to-end entrepreneurship experience for entrepreneurs at every stage to achieve commercial success. Targeting a comprehensive entrepreneurship experience for both students and academics, Istinye Garage Incubation Hub not only provides education, mentoring, and office facilities but also offers various supports, including R&D and technical need packages, to entrepreneurs.
