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[hackquarters]

Welcome to Facebook Station!

Facebook’s first community center in Turkey “Facebook Station” opened in collaboration with TOBB and Habitat Association. Facebook Station will help entrepreneurs, SME’s, and communities in Turkey to grow their business or achieve their goals. We are really excited that Hackquarters is an official partner of Facebook programs in Turkey.

The Great Opening Event

Facebook Station is opened with an event participating in many players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Throughout the event, the impact of the project was dwelled on with panels and speeches.

The event started with the presentation of Facebook. The presentation focused on the scope of the project and future plans. It is stated that Facebook Station help business in Turkey to reach oversea markets.

The Speech of Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu: It’s a great opportunity for entrepreneurs.

The event went on with speech of The President of TOBB and Vice President of Eurochambres Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu. It is emphasized that Facebook is huge platform with 2.5 billion users and Facebook Station is a great opportunity to use such a platform more effective for entrepreneurs. And also, it is stated that Facebook provides business with a great chance to reach new customers.

The Facebook Panel

In the afternoon, Sherry Dzinoreva, Head of Policy Programs of Facebook, Johan Filip Axenpalm, Public Policy Manager of Facebook were on the stage with moderator Kenan Çolpan the Board Member of Boğaziçi Ventures. The panel was about the secret behind the successful projects at EMEA region. The panel discussed the current economic structure of the EMEA region and the strategy of Facebook’s strategy in this region.

The Panel: What are we doing in Turkey?

The last panel of the event brought together key players of the startup ecosystem. Eylem Yanardağoğlu, Head of New Media of Kadir Has University, Kaan Akın, Founder of Hackquarters, Bilge Erdölek, Director of International Relations of Habitat Association discussed entrepreneurship in Turkey with moderator Ece Başay.

The event ended with a cocktail and Nilipek concert. Undoubtedly, Facebook Station will be a community that helps entrepreneurs and SME’s to grow their business and contribute to the Turkish economy. As Hackquarters, we are so proud of being a part of this community and an official partner of Facebook programs. Many thanks to everyone contributed to make this community real.

[hackquarters]

Take Off İstanbul Day 4: Tight Race to Get Great Awards

On the last day of  Take Off İstanbul, the event continued full throttle with great competition of finalist startups, keynotes and panels. As you know, 50 semi-finalist startups pitched to the jury on Day 3. Today, 15 finalists selected by the votes of the jury made their final presentations.

Welcoming Speech by Selçuk Bayraktar

The last day of Take Off İstanbul started with the speech of the chairman of the board of trustees / CTO Baykar Selçuk Bayraktar. His speech was focused around work done in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. Also, the impact and importance of such events.

A Special Guest – Keynote by Young Sohn

Take Off İstanbul Day #4 went on with the speech of the Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Young Sohn. He talked about Samsung’s innovation culture and what Samsung does for entrepreneurship. Also, he ended his speech with a Turkish quote “Merhaba, Burada olmaktan mutluyum”  which means “Hello, I am happy to be here”.

Venture Capital Panel

After the speech of Young Sohn, Venture Capital Panel started with moderator Kaan Akın. Great panelist from different geographies joined to the event, the CEO of Angivest Ventures Narayanan Ganapathy, Marketing Director of IIDF Accelerator Tamara Loseva and Founder of Endure Capital Tarek Fahim.

The main focus of the session was local startup successes and how to identify the best talent in the region. The verdict was unanimous; founders! Session leads into the lunch break.

Great Panel – Turkish Exits

In the afternoon, very successful Turkish Entrepreneurs, Barbaros Özbugutu, CEO of Iyzico, Andaç Türkmen, CTO of Paraşüt, Koray Gültekin, CEO of Foriba,  were on the stage with GP of 500 Startups Rina Onur Şirinoğlu. The session was about their successful journies with entrepreneurship and their potential future ventures. All of the founders are going to stay with the companies acquired, but if they have a chance it will be entrepreneurship for them as soon as possible.

Finalists Pitching Session | 15 Startups

The most exciting moment of the day was undoubtedly the presentations of finalist startups. 15 finalist startup pitched to the jury. After the presentations, With the jury’s decision, the winner is revealed. PakVitae came first among the 15 finalist startups and received $1000.00 Google Cloud Credit. PakVitae provides lifetime affordable filters that can purify water to 99.9999% without any power requirement. Also, the top 6 startups receiving $20.000 Google Cloud Credit are Augmental, T-Fashion, Inspector Cloud, iltema, Uservision.

You can see all the semi-finalist and finalist startups in the table below.

This is the end of the Take Off İstanbul. Take Off İstanbul left behind with very special memories. Huge thanks to our participants and everyone who contributed to our journey.

[hackquarters]

Startup Spotlight #18: ZinnoX

Security is an essential aspect for those who have an online presence for their businesses. No one can claim to be impenetrable as we even hear stories about the biggest companies like Facebook or Twitter to have security vulnerabilities.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be prepared when there’s a malicious attack which may potentially harm you. Consider the service that ZinnoX Tech Solutions provide for you as a “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” situation. They will try to infiltrate your line of defense with all they got, but only to teach you a lesson so that you know what to do when there is an actual invasion.

What you heard so far may lead you to think of them as a bunch of bloodthirsty hackers, but surely that’s not the case. Through InfoSec Trainings, which consists of a series of comprehensive coaching, your own IT team will be much more reliable. It’s always better to be equipped with the proper kind of rig when in times of trouble, so, enable ZinnoX to gear up.

What is the name of your startup?

ZinnoX

What is the website address of ZinnoX?

https://zinnox.com

Where is your startup based?

India

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Mobility / Logistics, BioTech, IoT, SmartCity, Agriculture, Enterprise SaaS, Machine Learning / AI, HealthTech, CyberSecurity, Blockchain, Fintech

Tell us what your startup does.

Our core competency is in Information Security and Cyber Security. Our Solutions include Services and Products focused on InfoSec.

Tell us about your team.

Core Team consists of 2 founders, Harshavardhan and Zakeer. Both are postgraduates in Sciences and Computer Applications respectively. We have work experience of over 8 years.

When and why did you found your startup?

While working in another InfoSec focused start-up in 2012, we became fascinated by the world of InfoSec and CyberSec and realized that there are so many challenges that need to be addressed. We began working on several approaches to effectively address specific challenges, and also wanted to increase the efficiency of Security Testing projects. At this time we were working in a law firm and picked up several useful business skills. We finally decided that the only way to learn more and perfect our business model would be to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, so we began the journey in 2015. We believe our Testing approach helps increase efficiency by ensuring faster turnaround time, up to 50% lower costs and 4X scalability.

What are your key and unique features?

We have InfoSec Services and Product and they all have their own unique features.

Testing Services for Applications and Networks:

– Vulnerability Assessment

– Penetration Testing

– Red Teaming

Our Key Highlights are:

– Flexibility (Schedule Test at Own Convenience and Specifications)

– On-Demand (Schedule Tests in Off-Business Hours, Weekends, Holidays)

– Scalability (Increase Efficiency and Scale Projects by 4X)

– Comprehensive and Concise Reports

– Premium Level, Consultant Grade Quality

– Zero False Positives Guarantee

– 100% WASC II Coverage

– OWASP Top 10

– CWE/SANS Top 25

– In-Depth Business Logic Coverage

– Up to 50% Cost-Effective

Our product is called Cypna, and it is a Security Testing Workflow management and Report Automation Platform.

Cypna’s Key Features Include:

– Team Collaboration

– Complete Project Management

– Team, Tester and Customer Management

– Chat Functions for Easy Communication between team members

– Alerts and Updates for quicker Project Completion

– Comprehensive Bug Database

– Tool Integrations for seamless integrations

– Report Customization

– Automated Report Generation

What is your growth like?

We are already very well established with regards to our InfoSec Services, with 7 Partners across 12 Countries, and over 40 Customers and having completed over 200 successful scans.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

7 Partners

2 Gartner Recognized Partners

12 Countries

40+ Customers

200+ Scans

With Our InfoSec Testing, one can:

– Scale 4X

– Turnaround 2X Faster

– Up to 50% Cost-Effective

What are your plans for next year and the next 5 years?

In the next year, we intend to focus more on our Product, Cypna, and take it global. The full capabilities of Cypna is as yet unexplored, and we believe it has the potential to disrupt the market as there is no single tool that combines all aspects, features, and functionality of Cypna.

Did you receive any investments?

No, We are a Bootstrapped Start-Up

Tell us 3 startups that excite you, and why?

There are several companies we absolutely love and follow, but if we had to choose 3, especially those that belong to our network it would be:

– FireCompass

– CheckPoint

– ScienceSoft

FireCompass is exciting to us because it is founded by the team that founded iViZ Security (acquired by Cigital, and currently Synopsys Inc.) It is in iViZ that Harshavardhan and Zakeer worked together and were introduced to the world of InfoSec and it is here that we have learned everything about Start-Ups.

CheckPoint is exciting to us because their product portfolio is really extensive and they are headquartered in one of the most upcoming and exciting places for InfoSec, Israel. Their Real-Time Security Updates feature inspired us to offer something similar to our customers as well, and the ThreatCloud Live Map is fascinating and informative.

ScienceSoft is primarily a software development firm but they also have IT Consulting and CyberSecurity Services which is very competitive indeed and is highly looked upon in the InfoSec world. Not to mention they have over 3 decades of experience in Consulting and is currently one of the most profitable firms in our vertical.

[hackquarters]

Take Off İstanbul Day # 3: The Big Day for Startups

Take Off İstanbul Day 3 was very excited for startups. 50 startups selected with mentor votes made their presentation on Day 3. Startups in different verticals made their pitch deck to the jury of the leading Turkish and global mentors in different sectors. Besides that, presentations of Google and Invest in Turkey was pretty catchy for participants.

Why Invest In Turkey

Take Off İstanbul #DAY 3 started with Chief Project Director of Invest in Turkey Necmettin Kaymaz’s presentation. He talked about investing in Turkey and the support of the government for entrepreneurs. At the end of the presentation, Necmettin Kaymaz answered participants’ questions.

Google Training Session

Day 3 also included a Google training session in the afternoon. Trainer Devrim Ekmekçi was up first to talk about Measuring and Targeting for Startups, where he gave valuable recommendations on usage of Adwords & analytics, KPI Dashboards, and measurement of campaigns. Next up was trainer Yusuf Sarıgöz, who introduced Qwiklabs, Google’s online Cloud Training portal, before completing a hands-on session on Machine Learning.

Would you like to try Qwiklabs and receive Google Cloud training for free? Google has set up Cloud Study Jam-a-thon where you can learn more about Kubernetes, Machine Learning and BigQuery alongside many other Cloud concepts – enroll for free through this address (in Turkish) https://events.withgoogle.com/cloud-study-jam-a-thon/

Startup Pitches

In the afternoon, startup pitches are started. 49 semi-finalist startups made their pitch deck to the jury of the leading Turkish and global mentors in different sectors.

The semi-finalist startups that made a presentation are:

Auto Train Brain

Auto Train Brain improves the cognitive abilities of dyslexics at home reliably Website: www.autotrainbrain.com

Bren

Flexible Hybrid Nanogenerator running entirely industrial IoT device and wireless sensor without using a battery with battery-less sensor mode

Car4Future

Energy sharing network and transfer hardware developed with blockchain technology for electric vehicles and autonomous cars. Website: car4future.tech

Comparisonator

Comparisonator is a unique tool to compare players’ and teams’ performance data around the world. It assists scouts, sports directors, coaches, agents and players to make better and quicker decisions. Website: https://www.comparisonator.com

ConnectION

Connect-ION attracts attention to being an enterprise that starts out to transform about 1 billion cars in the world without autonomous vehicle technology to an autonomous car. It is aimed to make it available for non-autonomous vehicle owners to have an autonomous vehicle after an easy installation procedure without throwing their current car investments away. Website: www.connect-ion.tech

eMahkeme

“eMahkeme Online Incompatibility Solution Portal” aims to solve users’ judicial problems fast, safely and economically. Website: https://www.emahkeme.com.tr/

Fanaliz

Fanaliz helps companies measure credit risk in an easy, flexible and affordable way by applying algorithms based on data analytics. Website: https://www.fanaliz.com

FilameX

FilameX is a mini filament machine focused on the recycling of waste plastics and filaments to high-quality filaments. Website: https://www.3dfilamex.com/

HEXTECH GREEN

Develops and produces smart agriculture machines aim for indoor agriculture technology. Website: hextechgreen.com

Iltema

We are an R&D company that dealing with technical textiles and brings an innovative approach to heating needs in industrial areas, make them available for OEMs to reach the end-users. Website: www.iltema.com.tr

InMapper

inMapper is an interactive indoor map platform for large buildings such as airports,malls, offices. Website: https://inmapper.com/

Karbonol

Fuel from Cigarette Butt: Karbonol fulfills its production costs, and can solve the stub recycle problem. Website: www.karbonol.com

Meşk

Meşk Tech. is a İstanbul-based music technology company that provides unique software to revolutionize the eastern music education. Any person can learn and practice an instrument or develop vocal skills via using our Meşk App. Website: www.meskteknoloji.com

PACHA

PACHA; protein and collagen chips, %100 Natural and tasty functional food. Website: www.pachacips.com

PDAccess

PDAccess is a cloud security software that helps companies manage their clouds secure, agile and compliant. Website: https://www.pdaccess.com

Pirahas

A magical and revolutionary fully automated software at an unbelievable price for Amazon sellers. Website: www.pirahas.com

Respo Gadgets

Respo Gadgets is an Istanbul based medical device company that develops an innovative, silent, portable and comfortable oral device to be used in mild to moderate level obstructive sleep apnea and snoring treatment. Website: https://www.dormio.com.tr/

SafeTech

Safe Tech is an IDS and an IPS system that protects SCADA/Industrial IoT systems against cyber-attacks and operational threats. Website: www.smartscadasiem.com

Secpoint

To make and new perspective of cyber intelligence Website: https://www.secpoint.com.tr/

SFM Yazılım

SFM Software is a fast and accurate cost estimation software for the product to be manufactured by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the machine manufacturing industry and productivity software which increases the company’s productivity by up to 15% at no extra cost to the manufacturer. Website: www.sfmyazilim.com

T Fashion

T-Fashion is a platform that aims to provide customized live analytics and fashion trend insights to companies that operate in the textile industry via analyzing thousands of social media accounts by the use of sophisticated deep learning algorithms Website: https://tfashion.ai

Tetis Bio

TETIS BIOTECH is a biomaterial company producing high quality marine bioactive compound products for industries such as healthcare and cosmetics. Website: https://www.tetisbiotech.com/

Üretken Akademi

Training-oriented startup acceleration program that supports high school and university students to start-up. Website: uretkenakademi.com

User Vision

Uservision is a platform helping brands to acquire agile implicit, explicit and subconscious qualitative insights from their target audience leveraging AI. Website: www.user.vision

ARAIG Global

ARAIG Global is a new international company and partner of IF-Tech Canada. ARAIG Global is a licensed company for production and global sales of the product- Gaming vest. We have the exclusivity to produce, distribute and market the Gaming vest that gives gamers an experience unheard of. Website: araig.com

Augmental

Augmental is an educational technology application targeting middle to high school students where course materials are adapted to each student’s learning abilities using Artificial Intelligence and student engagement tools. Website: www.augmental.education

Beambot

BeamBot offers artificial intelligence software that utilizes the already existing CCTV feed for autonomous control of any facility in order to optimize operation expenses, safety and security. Website: www.beambot.co

BlueVisor

BlueVisor develops AI wealth management platform to lift financial burden so that people can enjoy a better life. BlueVisor mainly focuses on the B2B market with SaaS (Software as a Service) business model or platform. BlueVisor has made tractions already in a short period of company history. Website: bluevisor.kr&entrusta.ai

Cardilink

Displays the status of devices in a dashboard in real time and we analyze your data for the long-term monitoring and quality reports. Alarms and any occurring issues will be reported to you before the product will be used with a patient. Additional benefit for you: Data Analytics of your product for clinical studies. Website: www.cardi-link.com

DRD Biotech

DRD Biotech develops diagnostic blood tests for brain damage such as Stroke, Concussion, and Epilepsy. Website: www.drdbiotech.ru

Edubook

Edubook is an Interactive Learning Community that Provides a Safe Space for Educators and Learners to connect, collaborate, and communicate among each others. Website: WWW.EDUBOOK.ME

FIXAR AERO

FIXAR is an Autonomous commercial drone with unique aerodynamics. Website: WWW.FIXAR-AERO.RU

Hot-wifi

Guest wi-fi networks with marketing options & wi-fi analytics Website: hot-wifi.ru

Inspector Cloud

Inspector Cloud Website: http://www.inspector-cloud.com

InstaCare

InstaCare is transforming the typical healthcare infrastructure of Pakistan into a digital healthcare infrastructure in order to make it more accessible and reliable from the base of the pyramid to save lives over 2,000,000 people every year who die because of the current outdated infrastructure of the country. Website: https://instacare.pk/

Intixel

Intixel is building AI-based products to empower physician decisions as a second eye. Our Team is a finely selected Artificial Intelligence experts, engineers, computer scientists, and medical imaging experts. Website: www.intixel.com

Mazboot

Mazboot is the first Arabic in-app coach for helping diabetic patients self-manage their disease and get a consultation from doctors Website: https://www.mazbootapp.com/

MIFOOD

MiFood is a company that provides automation and robotization services for restaurants. Website: https://mifood.es

Monicont

Monicont is a next-generation utility, transforming lives and unlocking potential through access to energy. Website: https://monicont.com/

Otus Technologies

Otus Technologies develops a novel software tool for aircraft flight loads analysis and dynamic solutions. Website: https://otustech.com.pk

PakVitae

PakVitae provides lifetime affordable filters that can purify water to 99.9999% without any power requirement. Our technology revolutionizes the conventional water treatment processes. Website: https://www.pakvitae.org

Pharma Global

The system of technological solutions based on BigData and AI (e-commerce, e-learning, and marketplace platforms) that reduce costs for market access for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Website: https://pharma.global/

RAAV Techlabs

Data analytics and quality analysis instrumentation company, building devices to check the internal quality of agricultural produce and dairy, by non-invasive and non-destructive method, to give important information like nutritional and adulterants present in the produce. Website: www.raav.in

Torever

Torever allows travelers to plan their trips in a minute for free, and take back control of their journeys with accurate info and navigation on the go! Website: app.torever.com

UIQ Travel

Connects solo travelers with shared interests in-flight and in-destination. Website: https://uiqt.com

Usedesk

OmniAI-powered omnichannel helpdesk platform which supports customers and sales. Website: usedesk.com

UVL Robotics

UVL develops and produces of multi-rotary type UAVs with vertical take-off and landing on hydrogen-air fuel cells. The company was founded by leading experts in the field of aviation and robotics systems design with experience in scientific and industrial enterprises. Website: www.uvl.io

XYLEXA

XYLEXA is an early-stage company developing Artificial Intelligence(AI) based cloud the application which helps the radiologist in early, accurate and cost-effective diagnosis of breast cancer through mammograms. Website: WWW.XYLEXA.COM

[hackquarters]

Take Off Day #2 – Corporate Partnerships

Day 2 left behind with corporate presentations. More than 30 companies, organizations, and accelerators made their presentations on what they are working right now and what kind of technology and partnership they are looking for. In the meantime, the startup fair continued at Hall 2. With the startup fair, startups met the corporates and had a chance to share their projects with them.

The few highlights from corporate sessions as follows:

Turkish Airlines Presentation

Digital Business Development Manager of Turkish Airlines M. Seyda Tatar made the presentation and talked about culture, innovation projects and the “Invest on Board” . The “Invest on Board” is a one of a kind opportunity for investors flying Turkish Airlines to invest in hand-picked startups. In partnership with Turkish Airlines, this application features the video pitches of strong startups with huge potential. In this way, investors can reach startups on board.

MediaMarkt RetailTech Presentation

Corporate Communications Department Manager of Medimarkt Tutku Konuk Altındal made the presentation and talked about MediaMarkt innovation strategy and the “MediaMarkt RetailTech” project in partnership with Hackquarters. With the program, MediaMarkt reached a lot of retail tech startups with high potential.

Esin Attorney Baker McKenzie

For Esin Attorney Baker McKenzie, the presentation was made by Cem Ucan. He talked about the problems of the legal industry. He mentioned that legal counseling is quite expensive and technology should be integrated into this field. He talked about the “LegalTech Startup Challenge” project in partnership with Hackquarters. Also, he stated that as Esin Attorney Baker McKenzie, they aim to reach startups that solve the problems of the legal industry.

İş Bankası Presentation

In this presentation, Emrah Koktekin talked about Workup. WorkUp is a startup program that helps entrepreneurs to grow their business and support entrepreneurs in the areas they need and enable them to grow rapidly. Many startups in different verticals have attended and completed the program so far. The many startups that completed the WorkUp program are growing their business.

Closing the day

Take Off Day #2 was closed with the announcements of the 50 semi-finalists who are going to pitch in Day #3.

We’ll release the finalist startups tomorrow. Keep connected!

[hackquarters]

Take Off Istanbul Day 1: Take Off is Kicked off!

Take Off is kicked off! The event started with the speech of Serdar Gürbüz the board member of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation. Take Off 2019 received more than 1000 applications from 100 countries.

Then, Hackquarters Founder Kaan Akın got on the stage and informed the participants about the event program. This time Take Off has 4 major days; Mentorship, Startup Fair Day, Business Day, Summit Day where startups meet with 100s of Mentors, Corporates, and Investors.

At about 10:30 AM, “How to pitch? Training Session” is started.

In this session, startups trained in preparing their decks and using presentation skills to attract investors. In the meantime, the mentoring session is started. About 100 startups meet their mentors.

With this session, startups got feedback from the leading Turkish and global mentors in different sectors. At the end of the day, 470 sessions mentoring talks were held in total.

Day-1 is ended with a networking cocktail. With the networking cocktail, Startups, mentors, and participants knew each other in a relaxed environment.

[hackquarters]

LegalTech Startup Challenge Accepting Applications Until September 15!

If you are a founder of a startup, you need to become a Swiss Army Knife, that is useful for almost anything you may need. And some topics are just scary for any founder. But legal… It is scary for any startup, company, SME or even individual doing freelancing. That’s why companies like Hackquarters, with the help of their friends, provide startups in their programs with mentorship in various areas.

When you think of legaltech, of course, the first thing that comes to mind is technology related to law and law firms. But in a broader context, a lot more areas can be included in legaltech.

On 9th of October, Hackquarters will be holding LegalTech Startup Challenge at Kolektif House. But do not hesitate to apply for the event, as it is not purely for “law” startups. LegalTech Startup Challenge covers interesting areas that relate to legal technologies such as consulting, fintech, AI, machine learning, blockchain, and cross-border technology.

The event will happen in partnership with one of the best-structured law firms in the world, Baker McKenzie and their partner in Turkey, Esin Attorney Partnership. That’s why we will also have great speakers from Esin Attorney Partnership, who has great experience in supporting startups in their area.

You can apply to LegalTech Startup Challenge until 15th of September. So, be quick and visit the website to get more information about the event and apply now!

[hackquarters]

Startup Spotlight #17: KATALOQ

Even the corporate companies with proper bases, from time to time, may struggle to find the right content to present themselves or a place to organise an event. On the other side, numerous content providers complain about how hard to find a company that values the work they put forth. And believe us, there are also many spots which is waiting for to get occupied by their suitors. So, why dont we just get them together like they mean to be?

The KATALOQ platform has recently founded by a group of people who are genuinely experienced with corporate trainings and events to answer that question. They know what corporates actually in need of, and likewise, they are aware of the fact that being heard is a necessity for content providers. And obviously, it’s not about just getting those two sides together. It has to be a good match, so the work which needs to be done turns out well for both sides. To ensure that compatibility, their Advanced Filtering and Search feature allows corporate companies to find the content provider that suits them easily and quickly. So, put your concerns behind and let KATALOQ establish a healthy work environment for you.

What is the name of your startup?

KATALOQ

What is the website address of KATALOQ?

https://kataloq.co

Where is your startup based?

Turkey

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Machine Learning / AI, Enterprise SaaS, Other_ Marketplace

Tell us what your startup does.

KATALOQ is a platform for corporate companies where they can discover content providers, speakers, instructors and places for their event and training needs.

Tell us about your team.

We are a quite small yet diverse team with a strong background in corporate trainings and events. Our founders also founded successful companies such as Tezgahçılar and Kolektif House in the past.

When and why did you found your startup?

We have been talking and a bit complaining about the issues and the inefficiency in events and training industry for a while. Corporate companies were spending days just to find a content provider that meets their needs. On the other hand, content providers were spending lots of money on advertisements to reach corporate companies. We have always believed that there should have been a better way. With this goal in our mind, we have started developing KATALOQ in May 2019 and released our MVP at the end of July 2019.

What are your key and unique features?

Advanced Filtering and Search: Corporate companies can easily find and discover providers that meet their needs in seconds. Analytics and Insights: We provide analytics data and useful insights to content providers to improve their businesses. Promoted Listings: Content providers can promote their listings to reach more potential customers. Lead Generation: Content providers can easily generate quality leads through their listings. Quote Requests: Corporate companies can get quotes easily and fast based on the brief they provide.

What is your growth like?

We launched our private beta in July 22nd and public beta in September 4th. So far, we have acquired more than 50 corporate companies and more than 100 content providers. Content providers have listed more than 250 listings.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

In Turkey, corporate companies spend more than 2.5 million Turkish Liras in average every year. That sums up to a whopping 3 billion market. There are also more than 100000 content and place providers that want to take a share from this pie. And we mainly target these providers.

What are your plans for next year and the next 5 years?

Our biggest goal is to make a breakthrough in this industry. We want to increase efficiency, decrease marketing costs and make our customers’ lives easier. Our plans for next year is to dominate Turkish market and for the next 5 years we hopefully want to expand to different parts of the world.

Did you receive any investments?

No, not yet

Tell us 3 startups that excite you, and why?

Getir, Armut, Paraşüt, Tezgahçılar and Kolektif House 🙂

[hackquarters]

7 Tricks on How to Write About Your Startup to Attract Investors

Starting your own business takes courage and persistence. Once you have made that big step, the next challenge you need to overcome is to attract investors. With so many other individuals who are also trying to make it on their own, you need to find a way to convince the investors that you are worth their time and money.

The question is how do you do that?

It is not an easy task to make your way in this competitive market. However, with the right strategic moves and smart decisions you can compose content that will make your startup stand out in the crowd. Consider the following tips when writing about your startup.

1. Answer the question “why”

There is one main question that the pitch needs to address – why are you worth it?

Be professional and explain different segments of your startup. If you start strong and explain why you are the one, you can clear their doubts.

Consider the following aspects:

How your product/service can benefit customers?

What problem will it solve?

Did you do the research on the target market?

Why is your solution different (better) than others?

How do you plan to acquire customers?

Are you well prepared (do you have a plan to plan to mitigate risk)?

Do you have the right team to support you?

Are your values compatible to theirs?

2. Research the investors

In order to answer that last question and to show that your philosophies are in tune, you need to find out all about the investors.

This will help you to tailor the pitch according to their beliefs.

Writing several pitches might be time-consuming but it will be worth it. Once you find out who your investors are, you will understand what approach will work best.

You don’t need to write different pitches from scratch. You just need to make some adjustments in case you notice that some of them have a difference of opinion.

3. Keep it simple

Throwing big words and long complex sentences won’t deceive anyone. It will actually have the opposite effect.

Investors will see right through such an attempt. No one wants to waste time trying to figure out what are you trying to say.

Avoid this risk by using simple and plain language. Imagine if you are presenting your pitch to the broad audience. That will help you simplify the wording.

Greg Weston, a marketing expert at Studicus explain how it all works, “In my experience, if you want to make it work, make it simple. I’ve seen so many startups messing up their opportunity by overcomplicating their pitches. Remember that those investors don’t need to be impressed with big words, they just want to know why they should choose you.”

Any unnecessary technical terms and jargon can create confusion. Simplicity is the key.

4. Try out storytelling

This is one of the best tricks out there. There is just something about stories that draws people in and keeps them engaged from the beginning to the end.

Investors need to go through a lot of pitches and if you want to stand out, stay away from the generic templates.

Tell a quick story about what inspired you to come up with your idea. Every story is unique so that can be your way in. It will ensure that there isn’t another pitch that sounds like yours.

This is probably the most efficient way to be original.

If storytelling isn’t your strongest side, there is a solution. Writing services like Trust My Paper and Best Essay.Education can do this part for you.

Professional writers like those who work for Grab My Essay can do the writing and editing and all you have to do is to explain what you need. In the end, just run it through Readable to check the readability score and you’ll be all set.

5. Speak up about the deadlines

Specifying deadline will show determination and professionalism. Being vague about your plans can make a bad impression on the investors.

Explain the timeline and how you plan to execute your idea. The more specific you are, the better.

Keep in mind that you need to be realistic. The aim of these deadlines isn’t to impress them, it is to show that you plan to be completely transparent in your relationship.

The potential investors need to be aware of the timeline so that you can exclude any surprises or misunderstandings along the way.

6. Find balance

Think of this as if you are trying to win someone over. Being too aggressive is an instant turn off. On the other hand, if you are too aloof you won’t seem ambitious enough.

All in all, finding the balance between the two is the best you can do.

Show that you have passion and determination. Show that you believe in your idea and they will believe it too.

What you want to avoid is to present yourself as too desperate or egoistic. Avoid terms like “you must”, “have to”, “need to” and similar. Such terms will mark you as conceited.

7. Show them that you don’t just want their money

There is more to investors than just a check that you can cash in. Focus on finding investors who can be your partners.

As a startup, there is so much that you still need to learn. Having someone experienced by your side can be of huge help.

Look for investors that can give you advice, help you with networking, and teach you some tricks.

Active investors can contribute to your business and help you to speed up its growth.

Besides all that, if you explain in your pitch that you want their support and that you’ll respect their opinions, they’ll appreciate that.

Some final thoughts

Some startups have amazing business ideas but without the right approach, they can’t attract investors. Don’t make that mistake and prepare yourself beforehand.

With the above-mentioned tips and tricks, you’ll be able to present your startup in the best light. Showcase your startup as the next big thing and you’ll have the investors in your hand in the blink of an eye.

[hackquarters]

The Power of Professional Drivers

Why some people are sooo good; so successful; and some are not? What makes you wake up every morning? Are you a success-oriented person? What do you care most; your own success or success of other people?.

Jealousy. Level ‘Professional’

For me, envy or jealousy is the strongest power of all; the genesis of everything. It is the driver that is pushing us for good or bad sake, but still moving. It’s just impossible to live in a society, be a part of this world and to be free of it. But what really matters is how we are using this power; for something useful like our own growth; or it just stays inside growing and dominating over all other feelings. So just cultivate it more; see how it is growing and you will lose yourself. Or think it differently; admire people and how they make it; put ourselves in their place, and want to become like them. And actually it’s possible to make it like your role model or even better. Put solid goals; position; salary; skills. What are the channels to take you closer to these goals? New projects; new responsibility; new knowledge. “New” is an essential word here; because you have to change your current way of life and get out of your comfort zone; which might be very painful sometimes. Take a risk, adopt for a new environment, change your behavior.

Excellence. Level ‘Professional’

No one is perfect. We all have different brains, physics, and skillsets; so some people might be brighter, wiser, or more attractive. But still, we all make mistakes and have a right to be the way we are. By the way, only people who work and do something make mistakes; because if you will just sit trying nothing new; why should you make a mistake? But be honest with yourself first; do your job as you if you want it to be delivered to you. Double-check? Why not? And the main rule of all times “Cover your ass”, always. Always think about yourself, your reputation; your part of the job should be done well. Because this is the only way to take responsibility and ownership of what you do. Make it a legend…if you do it, make people sure that it will be done with all the excellency.

You are not alone

Love people and they will love you. This is so true. Because people are the major value and asset we gain in our lives. Companies come and go; but people always stay. Love and respect your team members. Learn from people. Don’t be shy or hesitate to ask questions, because people really appreciate this. You can divert the lack of knowledge or imperfection into something positive converting your role model into your mentor. Do you want to learn something new from your teammate or manager? Ask him or her to be your mentor. And after some period of time, you will start to mentor younger colleagues by yourself.

Invest in yourself

It’s never too late to change anything in your life or learn new things. Just stop for a minute and take a breath. Does your current job make you happy? Do you feel satisfaction from the task when it’s done? How about the feeling that you still need to capture something to make it better? Learn more about content marketing; or video content, because if you do this it will take you one step forward. Never stop improving yourself; spend more time and money if required. And you will have a perfect outcome. But first put goals; is this what you really need. If the answer is yes; just do it and move forward.

Visibility. Level ‘Professional’

Did you ever think about how people think about you when they first see you; how they accept you? Just look into the mirror. Appearance is very important; clean; healthy; elegant. Wearing appropriately according to the audience and general concept. Balancing between creating your own style and still making people not to be scared of you. Appearance if the first thing people see when they meet you. Of course, you can be a nice and intelligent person; but why it has to come as a second impression. And I’m not talking about being too humble or overdressed. Dress the way to make people remember you; immediately.

[hackquarters]

Startup Spotlight #16: Babele

Hackquarters is defined as a startup accelerator and a corporate innovation partner. As we are working on a niche subject, there are not many startups that target our own target.

Babele, on the other hand, is a startup that may help not only accelerators like Hackquarters, but also makes life easier for startups.

Babele is a virtual accelerator dedicated to startup incubators and intrapreneurship programs. It provides a collaborative environment for business modeling, online mentoring and peer-learning, and enables administrators to engage all stakeholders effectively.

You can always apply for Startup Spotlight from this link. We will also include you into our network and you will be notified about our upcoming events, calls for programs and get exclusive invites.

What is the name of your startup?

Babele

What is the website address of Babele?

https://www.babele.co

Where is your startup based?

Romania

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Enterprise SaaS, Incubator, Accelerator

Tell us what your startup does.

It is a virtual accelerator dedicated to startup incubators and intrapreneurship programs. It provides a collaborative environment for business modeling, online mentoring and peer-learning, and enables administrators to engage all stakeholders effectively.

Tell us about your team.

3 international cofounders. Emanuele, Italian, ex innovation manager for P&G, an expert in business modeling, collective intelligence and social innovation. Ruxandra, Romanian, ex Sustainability consultant at Deloitte, an expert in finance, business management, and social impact assessment. Diego, Spanish, senior IT Developer, co-founder of a large IT development company in Spain, CTO of Babele. Our other awesome team members are Arnaud and Eliza, respectively from France and Romania, who work on business development. Then Raul and Olena, from Spain and Ukraine, who work on back and front end development.

When and why did you found your startup?

The concept of Babele was the subject of Emanuele’s master thesis written in Brazil in 2009, where he was mentored by Roberto Guimaraes, Former Chair of the Scientific Committee of the IHDP (UNESCO). The research paper aimed to draw a roadmap on how to harness collective brainpower to innovate in the area of sustainability.

The startup was then founded in 2013, with the aim to enable social entrepreneurs to share and validate their strategy by crowd-sourcing ideas and feedback from a wide spectrum of international stakeholders and peer-entrepreneurs. After 2 years of activities, we started to grow a dynamic community of social innovation support programs (universities, incubators, corporations), creating interconnected clusters of social businesses and experts that can leverage the collective wisdom and resources of all the network.

What are your key and unique features?

The tool enables the guided co-creation of sustainable strategies and business models. It allows to engage key stakeholders in the innovation process: leveraging their collective knowledge to bootstrap innovative ideas and co-develop them into complex strategic plans.

What is your growth like?

Babele is generating revenues with recurring customers spread across 4 continents. We work with organizations such as the United Nations, EY in London, CDC bank in Paris, Chicco in Italy, Berkeley University, the British Council, etc. The team has been growing over the past year, going from 3 to 7 people.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

Over 1000 business model of social enterprise from 106 countries. Over 40 Social innovation programs that have used our platform. Over 500 startups trained through workshops and boot camps. Over 1000 participants took part in our events.

What are your plans for next year and the next 5 years?

For the next year: we ait to become the reference platform for business incubation and acceleration. For the next 5 years, we aim to become the reference tool for social intrapreneurship programs at a European Level.

Did you receive any investments?

No.

[hackquarters]

Startup Spotlight #15: AlmaPact

As a Turk born & raised in Istanbul, I can say that I never got a student loan, like most Turkish students. In Turkey, students usually go after grants from either the government, NGOs or companies. But as we watch lots of Hollywood movies, we are also aware of the current situation about student loans and the cost of going to college in the US.

Let’s be honest: Only a very small portion of new grads can land a good job to pay his/her student loan without a problem. Others usually need a better payment plan for their student loans, according to their financial situation. AlmaPact helps those new grads.

AlmaPact is a startup that seeks to make life easier for people on heavy student loans with flexible income sharing agreements. You can find more info about AlmaPact, with words from one of the founders, below.

You can always apply for Startup Spotlight from this link. We will also include you into our network and you will be notified about our upcoming events, calls for programs and get exclusive invites

What is the name of your startup?

AlmaPact

What is the website address of AlmaPact?

https://www.almapact.com

Where is your startup based?

United States

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Fintech

Tell us what your startup does.

AlmaPact is a mission-driven company that seeks to change lives for the better by replacing student loans with flexible income sharing agreements. Just like a startup securing an investment, ISAs provide students the opportunity to pay for school by guaranteeing a certain percentage of their income over a 6-10 year time span. We believe that our mission holds much potential for economic and social impact as America addresses the looming student loan crisis.

Tell us about your team.

We were founded by two female students at the Harvard Business School during their time as students (Tess Michaels and Kelly Shaw).

Since then, our team has expanded—we hired Patrick Conner, former SVP at Wells Fargo and SoFi with two decades of experience in the industry and through the acquisition of Base Capital, one of the leading ISA providers in the industry, brought on its CEO, Brendan Florez, as our CTO.

Apart from those key players, the heart of our company is the students! We are a company for students, by students—our director of marketing is a rising sophomore at Harvard undergraduate, our head of data science is an undergraduate student, and we have brought on many other student interns to continue to strengthen our student perspective. These students are the ones currently dealing with the problems of student debt and are best equipped to help others in their position and have made such an amazing impact!

When and why did you found your startup?

In short–The student debt crisis continued to grow and it seemed no one was doing anything about it! We saw our friends increasingly delaying life events as they cope with debt obligations. They need more flexible options for financing their education!

In long–As students, we have been trained to study, examine, question, and propose solutions. With first-hand experiences of student burdens as students at Harvard Business School our founders figured it was time somebody stepped up to tackle this growing economic problem—we are amidst a student loan crisis!

Since 2003, there has been a six-fold increase in student loan debt, increasing median debt by $10,000 per borrowing household. The major issue is the most manifest in the borrowers’ inability to repay: student loan default rates are at about 11.5%. After accounting for the repayment difficulties in the early stages, the default rate on federal student loans is 42%, and is rising fast. The result: the financial future of millions of Americans is at stake!

Student loan debt problem has profound ripple effects across our entire society. Quite simply,education – particularly higher education – has been the cornerstone to economic progress and social mobility in America, which in turn, has helped strengthen the American middle class. Recent research by Opportunity Insights team has proven that rates of absolute social mobility (defined by children earning more disposable income than their parents) have declined from ninety to fifty percent over a 40-year span while national inequality has bubbled up, with the top 10% of Americans earning over 30% of the national income. We believe that affordability and quality of higher education is at the root of several such social inequities.

AlmaPact is excited to be part of the solution to these underlying causes leading to student loan crisis. We believe replacing student loans with thoughtfully designed ‘Income Share Agreements’ (ISAs) would help avert the crisis. AlmaPact ISAs will structure student repayments as a percentage of their future income, as opposed to a percent of one’s loan. This protects the financial future of students, and changes the way in which students, universities, and lenders approach student financing. In fact, if a student graduates and makes less than $40,000, they do not have to begin paying a cent! We also provide a grace period after graduation so the student can find the right job, rather than a quick job to start paying back debt as a traditional loan would often force students into. This way of financing is path-breaking because it changes student lives for the better. Since one is paying based off his or her income level, they will be paying less money when they earn less and paying more later in their career when they earn more. Thus, the stress of immediate repayment on graduation is relieved, and we help reduce the unsustainably high and continually rising default rates!

In doing so, we are bringing a new approach to measuring effectiveness of institutions of higher learning. Our income prediction models take into account the university one is enrolled in, the program they are enrolled in, and more! This way, we are able to provide personalized rates to individual students based on their individual situation and needs—not the economic standing of their parents. Creating this new eco-system calls for a holistic approach in sharing the economic risks and returns in student financing. AlmaPact is focused on this goal, working alongside thought leaders in education and senior executives across industry sectors.

What are your key and unique features?

Putting the student first! AlmaPact ISAs have aligned incentives—as the students do better, we do better! We provide those we finance with “Pact Perks” to help them with their career by connecting them with industry experts, other students in their program across the country, networking opportunities, and more. We are a company founded by students for students and that is apparent in all of the things we do.

What is your growth like?

Our growth can be seen in many aspects of our startup. To begin, we have had $6 million of ISA demand, with 75% of that coming in the last month alone! This recent growth can be accredited to our growth in other areas—we tripled our number of employees by taking on student interns and acquired Base Capital to help aid in the logistical underwriting of the agreements.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

We’re a number’s driven business… it’s all about the number of students we help who can now afford school and how quickly we’re growing in number of users, number of programs covered, number of schools penetrated… we also need to be efficient, how much did it cost per student acquired and how long did it take (sales cycle).

What are your plans for next year and the next 5 years?

In the next year we plan to sign up and onboard hundreds of students onto AlmaPact. We plan to increase awareness around the improved flexibility and affordability of an ISA. In the next 5 years we plan to have 100,000 funded via an AlmaPact ISA. We’ll have fully created the “Pact” community offering mentorship, recruiting services, and networking to ensure the best outcomes for students.

Did you receive any investments?

Our current investments derive from friends and family and start up competition prizes. Early fall, we are seeking seed funding.

Tell us 3 startups that excite you, and why?

1) Clarity AI : Clarity is a software platform that allows investors to assess the ESG risk and impact of their portfolio. I find Clarity AI really exciting as they seek to change the investment paradigm by helping investors to incorporate impact assessments into investment decisions, in order to drive improved capital allocation, thereby enabling positive societal and environmental change.

2) TalkSpace – Mental health is a major problem in the US, and not enough people seek help. I love how TalkSpace helps anyone get the help they need, even busy professionals or those that don’t feel comfortable going directly to a physical office.

3) All_EBT – All EBT seeks to bring the 36MM people on food stamps into the digital economy by converting their paper food stamps into a prepaid credit card. I find this incredibly exciting, as it allows those on food stamps better access to quality food, as most live in food deserts.

[hackquarters]

Startup Spotlight #14: BirdShades

Startup Spotlight has featured lots of different startups, such as fintech, education tech or other various verticals. But BirdShades is not like any other startup that we wrote about. As a category, we can say that BirdShades is an ecology startup.

We love all living beings at Hackquarters, we even have a Chief Bone&Bark Officer called Moka. Founders of BirdShades are also animal-lovers and they witnessed a depressing story (which you can find below) and that pushed them to create an amazing piece of innovation to save millions of birds from colliding into skyscrapers and buildings.

BirdShades produces a film to be used on glass surfaces so that birds do not collide with buildings. They use a special technique to make that film only visible to birds. You can find more info about BirdShades, with words from one of the founders, below.

You can always apply for Startup Spotlight from this link. We will also include you into our network and you will be notified about our upcoming events, calls for programs and get exclusive invites.

What is the name of your startup?

BirdShades

What is the website address of BirdShades?

https://www.birdshades.com

Where is your startup based?

Austria

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Material Sciences, Environment Tech

Tell us what your startup does.

We give birds the vision to stop window collisions. We are developing a transparent film which makes glass visible to birds, but is invisible for humans. Our goal is to save billions of birds worldwide from deadly collisions with glass surfaces and to enable freedom in architectural glass design.

Tell us about your team.

We’re two enthusiastic biologists with expertise in animal behavior, ecology and biodiversity.

When and why did you found your startup?

It all started with a freezer full of dead birds. One of our professors at university collected hundreds of dead birds which collided with a single glass corridor at university campus. We were shocked and wondered if this could be an individual case. We then started to research and found much more and bigger bird killers out there. In the US alone 1 billion birds die every year due to collisions with glass. The fast growth of our cities and the widespread adoption of glass as an effective and eye-pleasing material are putting the natural ecosystem at risk.

Now regulations and legislation are getting stricter and building owners are increasingly being held accountable and have to retrofit their beautiful glass buildings. The effective products available on the market affect the clear view through the glass significantly and are therefore not very accepted by customers. We found a way to keep the aesthetic design of clear glass and avoid bird collisions.

What are your key and unique features?

We build our product on the special ability of birds to see UV-light – which is not visible for us humans. The design we develop is unique because we focus on the particular physiology and behavior of many bird species. In combination with an interdisciplinary approach with experts in chemistry, physics and material sciences we create a solution which is highly visible for birds but not for humans.

What is your growth like?

We are currently in Seed Stage. In May 2019 we have produced the Beta-Version of our transparent film and sell it to pilot customers who will evaluate our solution and bring valuable feedback for our further development.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

1 billion birds can be saved from deadly collisions with glass surfaces every year in the US alone by applying BirdShades. Market potential of 637 million USD in annual revenue with the capability to increase.

What are your plans for next year and the next 5 years?

We are currently fundraising for our further product development and to supply more pilot customers. We are going to improve our film in the next 12 months and plan to have a market-ready product in the middle of 2020. After this we want to implement our technology into glass to supply the prefit market. We plan to grow our business worldwide in the next years and to establish our company in the emerging market and become the leader in this sector.

Did you receive any investments?

We have received Pre-Seed Investment from SOSV and spent 3 months at the RebelBio accelerator program.

Tell us 3 startups that excite you, and why?

Algiknit: the way they want to transform the fashion industry using sustainable natural resources which they modify with great biotech is very exciting

Impossible Foods: their journey to revolutionize the sustainable and vegetarian food market is great. Plant-based and tasty cheeseburgers? Love it.

Microendo: A fellow startup we have met at RebelBio Cohort VII. They design bio-fertilizers by using plant microbiomes – very cool!

[hackquarters]

Startup Spotlight #13: Monicont

Currently, our main focus is to gather even more startups for the upcoming Take Off İstanbul Startup Summit 2019. We had a great event in 2018, when we hosted more than 200 startups from all around the world. Turkish winners from 2018, went on for a camp in the US and non-Turkish winners had the chance to establish their company in Turkey (thanks to Turkish Technology Team). Also, we are open for applications for 2019 on Take Off website.

Even if Monicont was not a participant in Take Off 2018, they are a company founded by Turks and an expat. Monicont is aiming to grow in Middle East and Africa, but mainly in East & Sub-Saharan Africa, producing smart energy solutions for grid developers to improve quality of life for people in developing countries.

Monicont is a great startup optimizing and streamlining remote & rural reach to electricity. You can find more info about Monicont, with words from one of the founders, below.

You can always apply for Startup Spotlight from this link. We will also include you into our network and you will be notified about our upcoming events, calls for programs and get exclusive invites.

What is the name of your startup?

Monicont

What is the website address of Monicont?

https://monicont.com/

Where is your startup based?

Turkey

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Machine Learning, AI, IoT, SmartCity, Energy

Tell us what your startup does.

We design intelligent and highly efficient energy management systems that increase electrification for end-users and reduce utility costs, high operating and maintenance costs caused by unscheduled maintenance due to unexpected failures. We develop remote energy monitoring solutions for off-grid energy retailers in order to improve energy management and enable peer to peer connections to make electricity more accessible and affordable for everyone.

Tell us about your team.

We are a close-kit team of Engineers, developers, designers, testers, solution architects and consultants working together to solve challenges with technology by putting people and results at the center of everything we do.

When and why did you found your startup?

During my internship at an energy provider company in Uganda, I happened to be a field technician who would get feedback from customers connected to our solar mini-grids (many in very remote locations) in case of any blackouts or technical issues. I found it hectic for all field technicians traveling from our office every now and then and find a very minor issue which could have been solved remotely and avoid high investment in transport and operating costs. My team and I created Monicont a remote monitoring solution for off-grid utilities.

What are your key and unique features?

Monicont is low-cost, AI-powered and robust to work in any environment. It also consists of a bill payment system (PAYG) using mobile money.

What is your growth like?

We are implementing Monicont to enable 3800 households to have access to electricity in Buvuma Islands, Uganda in collaboration with Bakulu Power an energy provider building three mini-grids on the island.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

Roughly 1.1 billion people have no access to electricity according to the International Energy Agency. About 84% living in rural areas and more than 95% reside in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Despite a number of off-grid connections in East Africa alone over the past six years, rural electrification has been slow due to challenges of remote monitoring.

What are your plans for next year and the next 5 years?

We plan to scale up to the East African market at large and have more than 30,000 connections by 2024.

Did you receive any investments?

No.

Tell us 3 startups that excite you, and why?

Ecoisme, Verv and Smappee.

[hackquarters]

Hong Kong: A Growing Startup Ecosystem and International Business Hub

There is no question that Hong Kong is one of the leading cities in Asia and the world in terms of business and finance, but let’s take a look at why and how it became a center for business and what is the situation of Hong Kong for startups who are trying to scale and grow their businesses.

Firstly, Hong Kong’s location in Asia is one of the key factors of it being a business hub. Due to its location, Hong Kong is close to all key markets in Asia and provides access to half of the world’s population in a short amount of time by plane. Currently, Hong Kong has become a home for more than 8,000 businesses with most of these companies having strategic functions located in the city itself. Hong Kong has become a platform to reach and access all Asian markets and an important strategic business center, so this also causes the city to be one of the best options to start and scale a new business.

Hong Kong is in the position of having the exceptional infrastructure and pro-business policies apart from its strategical position in Asia. Also, it has been ranked the freest economy in the world for twenty-three years in a row which once again shows and highlights why Hong Kong has become a center of opportunities for new and growing businesses.

With its huge network of incubators, accelerators, angel investors and venture capitalists the Hong Kong startup ecosystem has been growing rapidly and creating a land of opportunities for entrepreneurs and their businesses. At the end of 2018, the number of startups has reached a total of 2,625 with an increase of 146% in the last 5 years. Also, the number of employees has reached 9,548 (301% increase in 5 years) and the number of workstations has reached a total of 13,756 with a 387% increase in 5 years.

Almost 35% of all the startups in Hong Kong were founded by non-locals with the top five nationalities being UK, US, Mainland China, Australia, and France. This shows that Hong Kong is not only an environment for locals but rather is an international hub for all entrepreneurs who are seeking to scale their businesses.

In this rapidly growing startup ecosystem of Hong Kong, the top five industries of startups have been Fintech, E-commerce, professional or consultancy services, information/computer & technologies, and design. Also, in the last few years, multiple unicorns like BitMex, Gogovan, Klook, and Lalamove were able to emerge in Hong Kong as well.

As mentioned before Hong Kong is currently home to a huge network of incubators, accelerators, angel investors and venture capitalists. So, this once again highlights that Hong Kong is an environment for new startups to fundraise and grow in multiple different aspects. Recently, Betatron which is a startup accelerator founded by the leading VC firms of Hong Kong and has been voted the first in Greater China and second in All-Asia in terms of contribution to the startup ecosystem has been accepting applications for their fifth cohort. Applications will be open until the 18th of July and selected startups will receive an initial investment up to 150,000 USD and hundreds of hours of hands-on mentorship.

For more info: https://www.betatron.co/

To apply: https://www.betatron.co/apply.html

[hackquarters]

Startup Spotlight #12: Inspirify

We love all startups, but some of them are like family to us; such as Minorpreneurs, PartyMag or VetMapp. Founder of VetMapp, Emre, has reached us with his new app, recently. And as we loved the simplicity of the idea and the clean design, we happily accepted to feature it on our Startup Spotlight.

Inspirify is a great-to-have app, which provides your daily dose of motivation and inspiration, without disturbing your daily processes. You can find more info about the app, with words from the founder, below.

You can always apply for Startup Spotlight from this link. We will also include you into our network and you will be notified about our upcoming events, calls for programs and get exclusive invites.

What is the name of your startup?

Inspirify – Daily Success Tales

What is the website address of Inspirify?

App Store

Where is your startup based?

Turkey

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Inspiration, App

Tell us what your startup does.

Our goal is to provide motivational and inspirational shortest stories each day.

As you progress through your own path of success, you can be inspired by over 300+ personal success stories and 100+ startup stories you can read in a few minutes.

It will take only a few minutes to learn from the far past, the present … the inventors, the entrepreneurs, the artists … the successful people and the initiatives and the ways in which they succeed.

Tell us about your team.

A-Team

When and why did you found your startup?

Sometimes, we all lose our motivation or inspiration. In those times, some people read motivational or inspirational quotes for getting their motivation up. I don’t know why but It doesn’t work for me. They give me dopamine hormone for a sec but not giving the main reason. Some others watch happy ending movies for getting their motivation back. That’s works on me. But they are too long we can’t find nice movies every time or watch everywhere. In that reason, I read the stories of my favorite successful people to increase my motivation. This time, I have to find a new story every day.

That’s why I developed Inspirify which introduces you to the success story of a new mentor every day. Stories are very short max estimated read times are 2-3 min. You can find 250+ successful people’s story and 50+ Startup company story in Inspirify.

What are your key and unique features?

Our goal is to provide motivational and inspirational shortest stories each day for getting/keeping people motivation up.

What is your growth like?

10+ downloads per day.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

Too early.

What are your plans for next year and the next 5 years?

Adding more mentors and success stories

Did you receive any investments?

No.

Tell us 3 startups that excite you, and why?

Hackquarters, because they are the best team ever.

[hackquarters]

Meet Our MediaMarkt StartupChallenge Winners

In Hackquarters, we describe ourselves as “startup accelerator & corporate innovation partner” and as a company founded in Turkey, we mainly collaborate with Turkish startups, even if we usually have our events/programs with global companies. The growing interest in our programs from international startups is one of those things that makes Hackquarters happy. We can say that retailtech startup applications to MediaMarkt Startup Challenge ’19, made us pretty happy.

MediaMarkt Startup Challenge ’18 had great retailtech startups, but MMSC’19 startups were even better. From 11 startups we chose from over 100 applications, 3 of them were Greek startups.

MediaMarkt Startup Challenge ’19 was opened by a speech from CEO of MediaMarkt Turkey & Greece, Yenal Gökyıldırım. Yenal Gökyıldırım said that they are happy to be working within the innovation community for 2 years with MediaMarkt Startup Challenge and looking forward to making this a traditional event. He pointed out that compared to 60 applications last year, this year MMSC’19 got more than 100 applications, 35 of them from abroad, and happy that the event got attention from countries such as Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Greece, Poland and more.

After Mr. Gökyıldırım, Kaan (you know which Kaan) was on stage for his opening remarks. He told how happy Hackquarters is to be working with MediaMarkt for the 2nd year in a row and how happy we are with the great applications we received from great retail startups.

We continued our event with startup presentations, with 5 mins of pitching time and 5 mins of Q&A for each startup. Our jury, who was grading the startups of MediaMarkt Startup Challenge ’19, was;

Yenal Gökyıldırım, CEO, MediaMarkt Turkey & Greece Martin Wild, Chief Innovation Officer, MediaMarktSaturn Sonja Moosburger, COO, MediaMarktSaturn N3XT Murat Gigin, CEO, Tekfen Holding Salih Zeki Sarıdanişmet, General Director, Demirören Media Fatoş Karahasan, Consultant & Writer Münir Kundakçı, Marketing and Operations Director, Microsoft Turkey Kaan Akın, CEO, Hackquarters

After great presentations from 11 startups, our keynote speaker Martin Wild was on stage for his “Innovate or Die – Future of Retail” speech. Martin explained the vision of MediaMarktSaturn for innovation and the future of retail technologies. “Retailtech Hub is like Tinder between startups and corporates.” said Martin Wild. RetailTech Hub hosted more than 50 startups since 2017 and most of them piloted projects with most of them. He also showcased current projects within MediaMarkt stores, such as Paul the AI based robot assistant and Paula the VR assistant.

Then comes the highlight of the day: Winners.

And the winner is… Bagaj!

Voted by our prestigious jury, Bagaj has been chosen as the winner of MediaMarkt Startup Challenge ’19. As the winner of 2019, Bagaj will be presented with the opportunity to be included in Retailtech Hub in Munich, and the entrepreneur network of Plug and Play. They will also have the chance to present at Retail Technologies Conference in Istanbul.

Poltio and Pegneon have been voted as 2nd and 3rd, respectively. They earned the chance to pilot in MediaMarkt and Tekzen stores, the chance to present at the Retail Technologies Conference in Istanbul. Poltio also got the chance to pitch for Chain Stores Association Members.

We would like to congratulate all the winners!

About Bagaj (1st Place)

Bagaj is a locker service that can be used via a mobile phone app. You can use our lockers as luggage storage / left luggage service and leave your personal belongings to the lockers which are located in places such as city centers, venues, concert halls, and beaches.

About Poltio (2nd Place)

Poltio helps brands access, engage with and learn from their users by the help of interactive content. Platform modules integrated with our analytics engine provide detailed, real-time insights about your audience.

About Pegneon (3rd Place)

Pegneon is a serious games company specialized in developing educational video games for employee training. Eugene: a series of educational mini-games for the training of customer service agents and the GDPR game.