Award-Winning Projects Announced in KADEM Women in Innovation Program

In the ‘Women in Innovation Program’ launched by the Women and Democracy Association to support and guide women entrepreneurs, 6 women entrepreneurs who reached the finals in two separate categories this year were deemed worthy of a total of 1 million TL in awards. The women entrepreneurs received their awards from Zekeriya Çoştu, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology, Davut Gül, Governor of Istanbul, and Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar, Chairwoman of KADEM’s Board of Trustees.

The winners among the 31 women entrepreneurs who reached the finals in the 8th ‘Women in Innovation Program’, organized this year under the leadership of the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM), have been announced. As a result of the evaluation by the jury, 6 projects developed by women entrepreneurs were deemed worthy of a total of 1 million TL in awards. At the ceremony, the successful entrepreneurs received their awards from Zekeriya Çoştu, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology, Davut Gül, Governor of Istanbul, and Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar, Chairwoman of KADEM’s Board of Trustees.

SÜMEYYE ERDOĞAN BAYRAKTAR: WE WANT TO BE ONE OF THE LEADING BRANDS IN SUPPORTING WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Speaking at the ceremony, Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar, Chairwoman of KADEM’s Board of Trustees, referred to the assassinations carried out in Lebanon by detonating radios and pagers. She underlined that these attacks, which target people similar to the genocide in Palestine, show how important it is for countries to have a say in technology and to become independent. Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar stated that Turkey has made significant progress in this area with the ‘National Technology Initiative’.

In this context, Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar stated that KADEM views the “Women in Innovation Program” as a ‘strategic move’ and continued: “We believe that an innovation ecosystem without women will remain incomplete. And we believe that we should not only adapt to this great change but also be the actors and drivers of the transformation. As diversity increases in many sectors, from science to technology, from art to industry, entrepreneurship also gets its share from this richness. Innovations that highlight the power of ideas in the business world gain value through innovation. As KADEM, we aim to promote women’s entrepreneurship and involve women more in innovation processes for sustainable growth. We see the Women in Innovation Program not just as a social responsibility project, but as a strategic implementation for the Turkey Century vision. Our ‘Women in Innovation’ initiative was approved as a ‘Guided Project’ by the Istanbul Development Agency in its 8th term. This means our project has gained ‘program’ status. I hope that our Women in Innovation Program will continue for many years, growing and enriching, and become one of the leading brands in supporting women’s entrepreneurship.”

1 MILLION TL AWARD TO 6 SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS

Women entrepreneurs participating in the KADEM Women in Innovation camp received training from a professional team on the needs they might encounter during the company establishment and project development process. At the end of the camp, 6 successful entrepreneur candidates selected by the jury will be awarded a total of 1 million TL in prize money, provided they meet the specified conditions within one year.

AWARD-WINNING PROJECTS

Incubation category award-winning entrepreneurs and their projects:

The first-place award was won by Gizem Uysal with her Helios Science and Technology project. Uysal received her 225 thousand TL first-place award from Istanbul Governor Davut Gül.

Uysal’s Helios project, developed in the fields of agricultural technologies and environmental technologies, aims to capture carbon from the air using advanced technological materials and utilize this carbon to increase agricultural productivity in greenhouses.

The first-place award was won by Selen Tavtın with her HER project. Tavtın’s project aims to produce recyclable, circular, and sustainable leather-like biomaterials with zero waste and natural texture for the leather industry with the help of BioCell technology.

First-place winners will also receive support to participate in one of the important international entrepreneurship events (Web Summit, Slush, CES, etc.).

KADEM’S ‘WOMEN IN INNOVATION’ PROJECT LED 16 WOMEN TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN COMPANIES

Since 2015, over 2,000 women entrepreneurs have applied to the KADEM Women in Innovation Program. More than 200 women entrepreneurs participated in the entrepreneurship camp. Among the 36 women entrepreneurs who reached the finals and received awards and certificates at the end of the camps, 16 established their own companies and 6 received investments. They won awards in national and international competitions and achieved significant successes in various sectors.

SUPPORT PROVIDED TO WOMEN IN THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP CAMP

Every year at the KADEM Women in Innovation Camp, entrepreneurs are provided with free use of open office and prototyping workshops, experience sharing, and access to investment funds. Entrepreneurs, who also receive mentorship for national and international project applications and photo/video promotion opportunities in digital newspapers, can access finance, sales, marketing, and customer management applications for free.