Biggest free technology event in the region; Take Off is bringing together the most disruptive startups, VCs, accelerators and multinational companies from all over the world for a four day of non-stop innovation.
Being a part of Teknofest Istanbul Aerospace and Technology Festival, Take Off brought together more than 200 startups, 100 VCs and hundreds of players from the entrepreneurship ecosystem to Istanbul in 2018.
The most promising 300+ global startups in 7 strategic verticals, will get on stage to pitch for the international jury, VCs and world leading companies
1Pitching and networking sessions with 200+ investors, business angels, VCs and the best accelerators from Turkey, MENA, US, ASEAN and Europe.
3Take Off leading rockstar mentors from the global startup eco-system will guide and support startups covering all important sectors and industries
2Partnership opportunities with 100+multinational and regional corporate and public companies represented by innovative and digital executives
4Click on the Vertical to see the startups
To qualify, startups must be based in an approved territory and can not have previously received promotional Cloud credits outside of the free-tier offering. Additional offers may be available through our venture partners.
We are now accepting applications and nominations for mentors and speakers. As we have limited slots available and to be aligned with our agenda, we kindly ask you to submit your applications and recommendations before 01 August 2019. All submissions will be reviewed, and submitted to organization committee on the equal basis.
The biggest free technology event in the region bringing together 1000+ Entrepreneurs, Mentors, Investors, Corporates.
Rockstar Mentors, Breathtaking Startup Pitches, Amazing Investment and Partnership Opportunities are awaiting our visitors at Take Off Istanbul 2019!
One-to-one mentorship sessions with the leading Turkish and global mentors in different sectors.
Training session where the startups will learn how to pitch to investors, prepare their decks and use presentation skills to attract investors.
One-to-one mentorship sessions with the leading Turkish and global mentors in different sectors.
Training session where the startups will learn how to pitch to investors, prepare their decks and use presentation skills to attract investors.
Networking cocktail at the event venue where startups, mentors and participants can know each other in relaxed environment.
Partner Presentations
10:00 - 10:30 SAP Sponsor Panel
10:40 Soft Tech
10:50 Turkish Airlines
11:00 TAV
11:10 Albaraka Türk
11:30 MediaMarkt RetailTech
11:40 Aselsan
11:50 Ministry of Health
Partner Presentations
13:30-14:00 Tarnet Sponsor Panel
14:00 Baykar
14:10 EsinAv/Baker McKenzie
14:20 Innoenergy
14:30 TÜBİTAK
14:40 Yıldız Holding
14:50 Bayer Grants4Apps
15:00 Google
15:10 Havelsan
15:20 GenerationS RVC
15:30 Arçelik Garaj
15:40 Ernst&Young
15:50 Is Bank
16:00 Sanofi
16:10 KWORKS
16:20 Turkcell
16:30 Here Technologies
16:40 BRISA
16:50 Atlas Global
17:00 Oracle
17:10 BTM
17:20 Samsung
Session for startups on benefits of setting business in Turkey and regulations
50 Startups chosen by mentors will be pitching and judged by the jury and 15 of them will participate next day’s finals.
Tailored training session by experienced Google trainers and
employees
Special dinner for VIP participants, speakers and leading governmental officials of Turkey.
By Selçuk Bayraktar / Fatih Kaçır
By Young Sohn, Samsung
By Kaan Akın, Narayanan Ganapathy, Tamara Loseva, Tarek Fahim
By Amir Sohrabi, SAS
By Rina Onur, Barbaros Özbuğutu, Koray Bahar, Andaç Türkmen
Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer, Samsung Electronics and Chairman of the Board, Harman International Industries
Young Sohn is corporate president and chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics, where he leads the company’s strategy and new business creation efforts. In this capacity, he also serves as Chairman of the Board at HARMAN International Industries.
During his time as president and chief strategy officer, Sohn led Samsung’s $8 billion acquisition of HARMAN, pioneered the company’s strategic investments and open innovation in emerging areas including AI, digital health, IoT, autonomous mobility, and other data-driven applications of technology.
Before joining Samsung, Sohn worked in Silicon Valley building and scaling businesses in semiconductors, storage, and other core technologies. During this period, he served as chief executive of Oak Technologies, Avago (then known as Agilent), and Inphi, after leading each company through a successful IPO. As a seasoned investor, he also advised startups and fostered promising, untested innovations, helping entrepreneurs turn breakthrough ideas into thriving businesses.
Early in his career, Sohn worked with Intel to launch its first PC chipset division and formed the company’s joint venture with Samsung, laying the groundwork for the modern chipset ecosystem. Over the course of his career, he has helped establish one of the world’s largest disk drive manufacturers and overseen development of the world’s first 100 Gigabit Ethernet CMOS PHY solutions. He has also served on the Boards of ARM, Synnex Corporation, Hyundai Electronics (now SK Hynix), and Cymer, Inc, and was a senior adviser to MIT Media Lab’s One Laptop Per Child initiative, which put the power of modern computing in the hands of disadvantaged children living around the globe and popularized the notion that access to the internet is a human right.
In addition to Sohn’s role at Samsung, he serves on the MIT Sloan School North America Board, is a senior advisor to the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, is a member of the board of directors at Cadence, Fungible, and is an advisor to Bitfury Group, Zoom video, and the University of California Innovation Council.
Sohn holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and MS from the MIT Sloan School of Management. As an undergraduate, he served as captain of the Penn varsity fencing team, leading the team to victory at the Intercollegiate Fencing Association and Ivy League championships in 1978.
An avid outdoorsman, Sohn spends his personal time kite surfing, competing in triathlons, and hiking.
Regional Chief Operating Officer & Head of Digital Transformation, SAS Middle East & Eastern Europe
Amir Sohrabi serves as the Regional COO and Head of Digital Transformation for SAS Middle East and Eastern Europe.He is responsible for engaging with SAS’ key clients acrossindustriessupporting their Digital Transformation journey. In addition to his client facing engagements,Amir is responsible for driving SAS’ performance office initiatives across South EMEA region.
Amir is a Technology & Digital Executive with over twenty-four years of experience in developing and driving high performanceteams globally. Prior to joining SAS, Amir worked for SAP and led their Analytics and Insights line of business for MENA. Before moving to the MENA region, Amir spent 17 years in Washington DC, working on commercial and public-sector IT transformation initiatives. These projects included engagements with the US Department of Commerce, US Department of Defense, USAID, World Bank, International Finance Corporation and the World Health Organization.
Moreover, having worked and studied in North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, South America, and Asia Pacific, he has a great understanding of operating in complex global environments, covering mature and emerging markets.
Amir holds a Master of Science in MIS from George Washington University, Washington DC.
In his spare time, Amir is an American Football Youth Coach. He has a passion for youth development and runs a youth development program (Youth2Leadership) in his community, which covers the MEEE region. Amir is also an active supporter of the startup community serving as an advisor and speaker for startup initiatives across the MEEE region.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Turkish Technology Team Foundation
Selçuk Bayraktar was born in Istanbul Sarıyer, 1979. He completed his primary education in Sarıyer Primary School and graduated from Robert College in 1997. Then, he continued his undergraduate education in Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Electronics and Communication Engineering department. During his studies in ITU, he was offered scholarship by University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) and he received his Master’s Degree from UPENN. Later on, he has been awarded a second scholarship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a research assistant in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and received his second Master’s Degree.
For the first time in the world, he carried out studies on the formation fligh texperiments of UAVs, coordination of air-ground robot teams, flight control and guidance systems; which are mentioned in scientific publications. During his education in MIT, he conducted studies on the field of automatic flight control algorithms that would provide Unmanned Helicopter Systems with the ability of aggressive maneuver.
He returned t oTurkey in 2007 and since then he has been working as the technical director (CTO) in Baykar A.Ş, which has developed the first national unmannedaerial vehicles that has been serving to the Turkish Armed Forces for tens of thousands of hours. He has been studying on fields of avionics system architecture, flight control, development of navigation algorithms, system kinematics and dynamics, electronic hardware and embedded software development, etc. of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems which are developed totally nationally and originally in Baykar.
Inaddition, in order to ensure that talented young people and people of allage sparticipate in the technology development process; to under take and support initiatives, research and development, projects and activities aimed at the production of products, systems and components that are all-important to be national and original in accordance with strategic importance, high addedvalueor global competition conditions; to identify and train talented young people; to contribute to the development of entrepreneurship culture in the field of technology and the scientific work to be done in all these fields; he is leading studies as the chair of the Board of Trustees in Turkey Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation).
Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology
Mehmet Fatih KACIR was born in İstanbul in 1984. He completed his, secondary and high school education at İstanbul High School. In 2003, he has become the 12th in the university entrance exam in Turkey. He completed his bachelor's degree at Bogazici University at Industrial Engineering department with the honors degree in 2008. He was the student representative during his university education. He has led interdisciplinary research and PMI (International Project Management Institute) approved project management trainings. After graduation, he chose to be an entrepreneur in different sectors. He has been active in companies in simulation software and hardware, virtual reality applications, digital outdoor advertising and food sectors where he was a founder and manager. He has developed innovative models by developing useful models and industrial designs in his companies. In addition to his business life, he took an active role in non-governmental organizations. Mr. KACIR is among the founders of Turkey Team Foundation Technologies (T3 Foundation) where he is still serving as the Chairman at Board of Directors. He was the Pioneer in the establishment of Deneyap Techonology workshops in T3 Foundation, in the Technology Stars Program for gifted students, in science centers and Enterprise Centers and in the Teknofest İstanbul, which is Turkey’s first Aviation Space and Technology Festival.In 2018, he was appointed a member of the Scientific Committee of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). KACIR was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology by the President's decision published on the Official Gazette dated 31 July 2018 and numbered 30495 and was elected as a member of the Board of Directors at ASELSAN Ordinary General Assembly Meeting held on 26 April 2019.
Founder & CEO, Hackquarters
Kaan Akin, an entrepreneur, founded and managed morethan 20 startups. Since 2015 founded Hackquarters, startup accelerator and corporate innovation Launchpad. Before starting Hackquarters launched bunch of products at Yandex, managed digital media at PepsiCo. Kaan is a founding partner at TR Angels Angel Investment Network.
Nowworking with more than 30 leading multinational companies; and having more than 150 startups in a daily agenda. With Workup by Is Bank being a 2nd best accelerator in Turkey in 2017, Hackquarters Founder Akin is now a guest speaker at the major global events like SXSW; Germany Investment Summit, Innovatours and other international events; and fellow at Young Transatlantic Innovative Leaders Initiative of German MarshalFund of United States.
Founder & CEO, iyzicoCo
Barbaros Özbuğutu has more than 15 years of professional experience in the global payment and telecom segment, including Telefonica O2 and First Data. During this time, he also acted as the Head of Sales SME of TeleCash, a subsidiary of First Data and shortly after as the VP Sales Germany of Klarna.In 2013, Barbaros founded his own payment company in Istanbul. He now acts as co-founder and CEO of iyzico, one of the fastest growing start-ups in Turkey. iyzico is transforming the payment processing experience for businesses of all sizes through its bank-integrated, fraud-protected payment platform tailored to the nuances of the Turkish market. Obtaining the BRSA license and being compliant with PCI-DSS, more than 160 people at iyzico go beyond seamless payments and help businesses transform to an excellent online shopping experience. With over 32.000 digital merchants and 500.000iyzico buyer protection consumers, iyzico gains more and more penetration into the Turkish e-commerce market each day.
Angivest Ventures
General Partner, 500 Startups
Digital Innovation & Data Analytics Solutions, Turkish Airlines
CEO, Foriba
Technical Co-Founder, Paraşüt
Founder, Endure Capital
Head of Marketing, IIDF Accelerator
TÜGİM
Head of Marketing, IIDF Accelerator
Crowdpolicy
South Central Ventures
AdFirst VC
Keiretsu General Manager
Impeccable Optimist , Cheerleader
I4E Ltd
Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation
Capital Innovators
Untitled Ventures
Radiant Management and Consulting
Ablaze Growth Studio
Leaders International
Continental Consulting
Creators
Civitta
Venn Innovation
IIDF Venture Fund
PlanX
Intelak Incubator
Health at Home Foundation
MIT Technology Review Pakistan
Startupbootcamp / Dubai Smart City Accelerator
Startup Campus London
Alachisoft
Sophia Business Angels Network & EBAN
Innoland Khazar Ventures
Saba Investing
MonoCash
ATOLYE
Esin Attorney Partnership
Leafinbox
G2O Consulting
Brand Base
Havacılık Psikolojisi
R&D Leader and Consultant in F&B
Strategy Manager at PepsiCo
Tümmiad / 1idea 1world
KWORKS
Gago Coaching
Denizbank
Liberro Founder, Mentor, Advisor
Chief Digital Officer Demirören Media,Technology,Digital / Partnering&Innovation Executive / Business Mentor / Investor
TTO Director, Bilkent University
Solar PiezoClean
Keiretsu Entrepreneur Relations Director
Albayrak Group
Bahçeşehir University
Koçfinans
Esin Attorney Partnership
Boza
Galatasaray University
Toros Tarım
AI Engineer
Havacılık Psikolojisi
E-Commerce & Digital Transformation Researcher
Sanofi
Teknopark İstanbul
MediaMarkt
Freelance
MediaMarkt
KWORKS - Program Coordinator at Koç University Entrepreneurship Research Center
Associate Partner at EY
StartupFon, Founding Partner
Yazılım ve Arge Direktörü
Angivest Ventures
GenerationS / RVC
Startup Grind
The Others Agency
Regional Business Development Director / Oracle
Sparkle
Datapare
500 Istanbul
Hamza Aytac, Creative Projects.
Co-Founder at Twentify
CTO / Co-Founder at Zingat.com
Danışman @ Hexagon Studio / Partner @ Intract
KWORKS
Freelance strategy consultant
Bosch Siemens Home Appliances
Yurt Çimento A.Ş
Hürriyet Emlak
Principal at Global Ventures / Kapur & Partners
Business Artist / Speaker, Advisor & Mentor / Serial Entrepreneur / Founder of GEF & Publisher of Entrepreneur
CTO
Startup Campus
Billion Team Enterprise
QGroup
Tins Advisory Services
R&D Manager @ Arzum
Media Markt Türkiye
Galata Business Angels
TRAngels
Communiti
Geometry
Associate Professor at Yildiz Technical University
CEO at GmPly, Inc. / Storyteller / Mentor at TÜGİM
Vestel Ventures, Genel Müdür
Sosyal Medya Kampüsü
Gain Global
ACT Venture Partners
Verisun Teknoloji AŞ
Madera.ai & Gaper.io
Head of Business Excellence and Innovation at Albaraka Türk | Managing Director at Insha
Partner - Managing Director, RebelRoam
Yeşilköy Quarter
34149 Bakırköy/İstanbul
T3 Turkey Technology Team
Phone: +90 (212) 501 94 34
