I am currently the manager of the accelerator & incubator at Istanbul Sehir University, “incuba.city”. Being an entrepreneur myself, I have a track record in start-ups, entrepreneurship and fundraising for SMEs and start-ups, as well as local and international business development. Being a finance and technology transfer professional, certified from UT at Austin, I am also a contracted expert of the EC Research Executive Agency on evaluation of proposals relating to main topics of the EU SME Instrument calls. I am a certified Lean LaunchPad educator and, as the primary mentor and instructor, I use Lean LaunchPad methodology in our acceleration programs.  

I am the creator and coordinator of SEHIR Technology Transfer Acceleration Programme, which was run successfully over 30 times in the last 3 years.  I am also the creator and coordinator of Invest Istanbul Acceleration Programme, which aims internationalisation of early stage technology start-ups and technology scale-ups. I am also a mentor and an instructor in these acceleration programmes.

I am a mentor in InvestHorizon programme (www.investhorizon.eu), as well as a certified mentor for The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).

I have secured, in 11 rounds, a total investment of €6.5m for 6 start-ups that I mentor in the last 2,5 years.

Proficient in preparing technical due diligence reports required for commercialisation of technology such as QuickLook and RapidCase, as well as financial forecasts, financial due diligence reports, and valuation of technologies, companies and patents.

Before, I was the managing director for a boutique consultancy company in London, raising funds for Turkish SMEs through private placements and IPOs in London market. I followed accounts on renewable energy, ICT, reinsurance and mining. 

Earlier, I was the CEO of a Turkish SME, a daughter company of an apparel producing group of companies of ca.100 million US$ annual turnover, where I reengineered the company and practiced management and production techniques like lean management and Hoshin.

I was also the Vice President in insurance and reinsurance companies in Turkey, and research fellow at Bogazici University.

B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in civil engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul, where I continued my studies and research for PhD. 
MBA from Istanbul Bilgi University.
Lean LaunchPad certification from Steve Blank & his team at Venturewell.
Technology Transfer Certification from University of Texas at Austin IC2 Institute.