COMMERCIALIZATION Center of Istanbul (BTM), established by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC) to support startups and entrepreneurship, continues to gather startups with investors. Celebrating its 8th anniversary this year, BTM has supported nearly

7 thousand startups and over 10,000 entrepreneurs to date. One hundred twenty-nine of these startups drew immense interest and received over TRY 1 bn (USD 29.5 million) investment over TRY 8.5 bn (USD 241 million) valuation. Nineteen of these startups were commercialized and entered the global stage.

With over 800 thousand members in 2024, the BTM continues to be the world’s second-largest chamber of commerce, and the BTM startups seized the opportunity to express themselves to the members of ICOC’s 81 professional committees. Fifty matchings were accomplished with the BTM startups as part of the ICOC Professional Committee Matchings, and the number of investor-startup matching reached 60. Additionally, the BTM Sector Based Startup Meeting, where startups from similar sectors gather to enable BTM startups to meet and, share and build partnerships, was held.

26% WOMEN

In 2024, BTM supported 1.107 startups and 1.422 entrepreneurs. Three hundred sixty-three of these entrepreneurs are female, and 1.059 are male. Regarding gender distribution, 74% of the startups are comprised of males and 26% of females. When Türkiye’s level of female entrepreneurs, around 12%, is considered, one realizes that BTM’s female entrepreneurs are over twice as much as Türkiye’s average. BTM aims to achieve one female entrepreneur out of every three

by 2030.

Carrying out activities to expand female entrepreneurship, BTM has been conducting many programs to this end. The Rising Brands Türkiye Project, led by ICOC and actualized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye, Istanbul Council of Women Entrepreneurs, and BTM, aims to achieve the branding of women entrepreneurs.

BETWEEN AGES 14-69

In 2024, the youngest of BTM’s entrepreneurs was 14, while the most experienced was 69. Training courses, workshops, and mentorship services were provided to young people to gain skills regarding business establishment and management as part of the Early Startup Development Center Project, which was designed for young people between the ages of 14 and 19.

At the same time, they were allowed to discover their potential and improve their competencies. Also, the BuddySync Program, which aims to offer mentorship to young startups from experienced entrepreneurs, was launched. As part of this program, the Camp startups and the experienced startups under the Incubator and Post-Incubation programs were matched as ‘buddies’.

ATTENDING GLOBAL FAIRS

Realizing national participation in representing Türkiye each year at over

40 global fairs, ICOC enabled BTM startups to attend many fairs. In 2024, mainly under ICOC’s auspices, BTM startups had the chance to participate in Türkiye and the world’s leading fairs such as CES, MWC Barcelona, Hannover Messe, Web Summit, Saha Expo and Take Off.

Free support

To innovative idea owners, BTM offers all the support required to actualize the projects in the stages of commercialization: research, idea, invention, discovery and product development, patent application, registry, income model design, commercialization, marketing and dissemination.

Performing its activities with ICOC’s support, BTM offers free services to startups and does not demand shares or partnerships. BTM’s free-of-charge services provided during the actualization of startups’ business ideas include training and seminars, mentorship support, investor matchings, demo day events where startups deliver presentations to investors, 7/24 office, and one-to-one consultancy.

The world’s third-best incubator

BTM has received many awards for its services in the startup ecosystem in the last eight years. BTM was selected as the ‘World’s Most Promising Center’ in 2019 by Sweden-based UBI Global. UBI Global is one of the world’s most prestigious institutes in this area. It builds an index with incubators and accelerator programs from 90 countries, including China, Germany, and the USA. This index is regarded as the startup ecosystem’s Oscar award. In 2023, a 6-month evaluation qualified BTM as one of the world’s five best incubators by UBI Global among

1.895 public and private sector startup centres, including universities. After the assessment, BTM was selected as the world’s third-best incubator.

Programs for startups at all levels

As Türkiye’s first startup centre to support startups at the idea stage, BTM provides special training and services for each program. The programs customized by BTM for startups are as follows:

BTM Camp: Startup candidates wishing to become startups and take part in the ecosystem,

Pre-Incubation: Startups with innovative business ideas who have products or product outputs (software, website, etc.) related to these ideas,

Incubation: Startups owning companies or startups that achieved sales,

Post-Incubation: Startups that received investments are searching for a second or third round.

BTM’s basic startup programs, the Camp, Pre-Incubation, and Incubation, last six months. The Post-Incubation Program, on the other hand, lasts one year. Startups that receive training in various areas based on their level are entitled to pass to other programs if they meet the criteria of their program.