Managers of some angel investment networks in Turkey, managers of share-based crowdfunding institutions, managers of entrepreneurial capital investment funds, international venture capital organizations, experts in the field of artificial intelligence, startups seeking investment and speakers about the entrepreneurship ecosystem met in Kayseri.
Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Memduh Büyükkılıç, who started his speech by thanking everyone who contributed to the meaningful work done on behalf of angel investment in Kayseri, said, “I would especially like to thank the valuable team of our Erciyes University. Of course, we aim to be a city that is self-sufficient in the cities of the future and includes companies that will export software and IT services to other world cities. We are honored with our industrialists and organized industry. The issue of smart urbanism is now on the agenda. The work done by our country in this field is also contributing to us. We strive to make our lives easier by using technology to make city services more efficient and effective. We take care to play a leading role in smart urbanism studies in Kayseri. "By using city technology, we provide traffic management, waste management, energy efficiency, electric public transportation vehicles and shared bicycle applications," he said.
Mayor Büyükkılıç said, “We are at the top of Erciyes, we must rise to the top together,” and added, “It is very meaningful for us to hold this event in Erciyes. We have 5 universities in our city, we are proud of them. We share with pleasure and honor that our research university has risen to the 8th rank, but is it enough? It's not enough. We will strive to go higher. The capacity to provide this is available in Kayseri. Of course, we will provide all kinds of support to activities that will encourage and guide our young people. First of all, we are talking about a summit where we will take care to raise the leaders of the future with both an innovative and visionary perspective. There will be gains here, but there will also be risks. If it carries risk, there will be profit; if it does not carry risk, there will be no profit. Hopefully, we will turn this risk into profit. "We will make a name for our Kayseri and Turkey," he said.
Erciyes University Rector Prof. Dr. Fatih Altun also noted the following in his speech: “Erciyes University has proven itself in every field and has increased its work and continues to increase its activities, as a state university that has risen to the eighth place this year among the Research Universities in Turkey, and has made a name for itself in every field where scientific and technological activities are carried out. It is a higher education institution that is making efforts. Of course, when we talk about projects and science, supporting and funding them also has a special importance. In particular, we continue our work with the effort of becoming a university that makes a name for itself in European Research Council (ERC) projects and Horizon Europe processes, so that our University can rise even higher in international funding. However, we know that while doing these, it is very important to clearly demonstrate their contribution, support and funding in the activities I have mentioned. This is where Erciyes Technopark Angel Investment Network appears. It is also of particular importance that it is the Angel Investment Network, whose short name is ERBAN and which was established within Turkey's 13th Technopark. I follow the activities carried out with excitement. "I think the fact that he is here as an investor in the Angel Network, in his management, is actually a clear indication of how much support we will give to this process."
In his speech, Rector Prof. also gave information about the Technology Development Zones that will be built in addition to the Technopark. Dr. Altun said, "I would also like to express that the protocol in our city, that we are working together with our Governor, our Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, our district municipalities, our Chamber of Commerce, our Chamber of Industry, our Oran Development Agency, and that we act as a whole, as a single piece, has good results in our work." I want. "Because when we are together and act together, we achieve stronger results," he said.
Melikgazi Mayor Mustafa Palancıoğlu emphasized that technology is now inevitable for people and said, “We have two options before us. We will either produce this technology or consume it. For this reason, all kinds of support, especially from Technopark, Erciyes University and our industrialists, is extremely important to us.”
Kayseri Chamber of Industry Deputy Chairman İlhan Baloğlu and Kayseri Chamber of Commerce Board Member Ahmet Emre Sönmez also made a speech and thanked those who contributed to the organization of the event.
Expressing that he is proud to be involved in such an exciting event and to be a part of this technology move, Central Anatolia Development Agency Secretary General İbrahim Ethem Şahin said: "A very serious potential has been discovered in Kayseri, and very serious success stories have been created." This event should be viewed as a shopping experience. "We will take, we will give, and at the end we will make a profit," he said.
Erciyes Teknopark General Manager Serhat Dalkılıç stated that Kayseri is the city with the most angel investors after Istanbul and said, "In this adventure that we set out by saying, if we are doing it, let's do it better, we reached 145 angel investors in Kayseri. 72 of these investors are licensed. For the development of this ecosystem, it is very critical to find finance, which we call smart money, which is one of the biggest gaps when investing in technology entrepreneurship. Every year when we go to Erciyes, we increase the number of angel investors by approximately 20 percent. When we landed from Erciyes, we set out to increase the number of angel investors to 170. We will not teach entrepreneurship to Kayseri, but we will try to give our best support in terms of evolving traditional entrepreneurship into technological entrepreneurship. "We will grow together with your support," he said.
After the speeches, the event continued with presentations.
