Many sectors, from agriculture to automotive, from defense to aerospace, are now investing in technology. Today, companies and business models with high export potential are either developing technologies or producing solutions that use technology effectively.
The Ministry of Industry and Technology also supports entrepreneurs who want to produce goods or services using technology through 89 technology development zones, which were implemented in 2001 and are active today. Technoparks, as they are called, house brilliant entrepreneurial ideas, the knowledge of universities and collaborations that can be built between industries.
More than 10,000 companies and more than 110,000 employees develop technologies
The data published by the General Directorate of R&D Incentives of the Ministry of Industry and Technology shows the contribution of technoparks to technology development and exports. According to March 2024 data, 10,420 companies and 111,077 employees work in 89 technology development centers with the aim of growing by commercializing their ideas. 52.22 percent of these companies have systems, databases, networks, websites, etc. He deals with computer programming, that is, coding custom software with software.
Support for start-ups in Technology Development Zones has begun to bear economic fruit. The total turnover of Technoparks so far has reached 459 billion TL and total exports have reached 10.6 billion dollars.
“I couldn’t do that at home”
Burak Şükrü Çetinkaya is one of hundreds of people developing technology with the aim of exporting it within the Teknopark. With the company he founded, Quark Optical, Çetinkaya is developing an optical communication system that enables uninterrupted operation of radio communication, especially at border police stations.
The entrepreneurial story of Çetinkaya, who made his first sale to ASELSAN, began with a product that could not be imported while he was working in a defense industry company.
“I realized that Turkey has a need here, there are monopolized global companies. During the pandemic: “Can we do it?” “We started the process and after a year and a half of work, we founded our company with the support of TÜBİTAK.”
Çetinkaya explains that Teknopark has made a significant contribution to him, especially in the commercialization and growth process:
Before I came to Teknopark Istanbul, I converted a room in the house into an office. They have all the preliminary accounting, hardware, software and everything. While I was there I was in serious trouble, both financially and mentally. No matter how good a product is, it is meaningless if you cannot explain it. I couldn't manage to explain this to the other party at home. Technopark has a business development unit. There we can talk directly to other companies. Teknopark Istanbul has a technology transfer office. There are people here who we can ask and advise on how to patent the products we make and how to obtain intellectual property rights. So if you have a business idea or an initiative, you absolutely need to be in an ecosystem.
“We develop technology in the right place and at the right time”
Ömer Faruk Koç, who grew up in agriculture through his father's profession and is a computer engineer, started his entrepreneurial journey with the individual young entrepreneur support he received from TÜBİTAK in 2019, with the aim of solving the problems he saw in agriculture solve.
Today, Ömer Faruk Koç and his company Move On offer products and services to increase productivity through the development of artificial intelligence-supported agricultural technologies in Teknopark Istanbul.
“Many people can do farming, but the number of people who do skilled and efficient farming is very small. We solve many problems, such as product losses during harvesting, inefficiencies, excessive use of fertilizers and chemicals, with digital and data-based techniques.” According to the data we obtained from camera images, there is a product loss of eight percent. In other words, the farmer produces almost a tenth of it, but cannot sell it. We have seen that we can reduce this eight percent inefficiency to zero. “
Stating that they have penetrated the field and developed technologies despite the various difficulties that come with a new business and starting a business during the pandemic, Koç explained that they work with the aim of entering the international market to compete, and that government support is important. Travel:
TÜBİTAK paved the way for us to become a prudent dealer. In other words, he showed us that we could achieve something by starting a business and becoming a business. We took that light and carried it to this day. We have become a public company, we have received investments, we have grown and we are appearing on the international stage. Technoparks, which provided us with office and workshop facilities here and supported us at international entrepreneurship events, enabled us to do both the visible and the invisible.
“Government support plays an important role in the rapid rise of startups.”
One of the startups founded in Teknopark Istanbul that is developing technologies to compete in the international market is Alloy Additive. The company, which uses proprietary three-dimensional metal printing systems to print parts from materials such as stainless steel alloys and nickel and titanium alloys, operates in many industries including aerospace, defense, automotive and energy. Business Development Manager Sema Dinç informed about the company's work:
The leading industries we serve are defense and aviation. Here too, lightness and low consumption of raw materials are important because precious metals are used. With our method, raw material consumption is reduced to almost zero. In this sense, the work we do is very important.
Dinç points out that both their company's office and workshop are located in Teknopark Istanbul, which makes their work much easier, especially at the point of sale:
Here we share the same ecosystem with leading companies in the defense industry and aerospace. Therefore, thanks to the Technopark, we can easily hold personal meetings with our customers and interested parties.
We have clearly overcome the hurdles we face with incubation centers. We see that incubation centers and government support play an important role in the rapid spread of ideas and initiatives. With the support of TÜBİTAK and KOSGEB, we have grown significantly.
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