May 26, 2022
Visa İnovasyon Programı’nın 4. Dönemi Başladı
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Visa İnovasyon Programı’nın 4. Dönemi Başladı
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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!