Today, women are just as involved in entrepreneurship as men, and the number of successful female entrepreneurs is growing every day. While entrepreneurship is the path to economic development both globally and in our country, empowering women is also achieved through innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Women’s Entrepreneurship Camp in Innovation, the first of its kind, was held between August 31 and September 5, 2015, as an important step in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, in collaboration with the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM) and TÜBİTAK Marmara Technopark (MARTEK).

Out of 400 projects that applied to the Entrepreneurship Camp with the slogan “I Have an Idea”, 28 female entrepreneurs were selected to participate in the camp. At the end of the entrepreneurship camp, successful projects were awarded an additional 25,000 TL per project (if they were eligible to receive financial support from national and international official institutions and organizations). Additionally, accommodation was provided for one year at the Incubation Center within Marmara Teknokent to carry out their projects.

The Women in Innovation Camp, organized in collaboration between TÜBİTAK Marmara Teknokent and KADEM, was conducted in three stages.

  • In the first stage, applications for R&D, science, and technology-related projects were accepted.
  • In the second stage, 28 projects were selected from among 400 projects to participate in the camp, based on an evaluation conducted by TÜBİTAK Marmara Teknokent judges.
  • In the final stage, the female entrepreneurs who earned the right to participate in the camp received training in entrepreneurship, marketing, and commercialization from experts and academics in their fields over the course of five days.

At the end of the entrepreneurship camp, the selected successful projects were granted an additional support of 25,000 TL per project (if they were eligible to receive one of the financial supports provided by national and international official institutions and organizations) and were also provided with accommodation facilities at the Incubation Center within Marmara Teknokent to carry out their projects for one year.