Yildiz Ventures Founder and Chief Executive (CEO) Yahya Ulker: “We aim to contribute to the sector by supporting the startup ecosystem with our investment programs.”
Yildiz Ventures Founder and Chief Executive (CEO) Yahya Ulker said, “I predict that “2021” will be more active for the entrepreneurship ecosystem compared to previous years. As Yildiz Ventures, our focus is on initiatives in the food and retail industries. As part of our acceleration program with our global partner Sente Foundry, we plan to invest in at least three early-stage startups this year in the field of food.”
Ulker spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) about the work of Yildiz Ventures, which Yildiz Holding established to support the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Expressing that the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic accelerated the change in every field, Ulker said that brand new needs emerged.
Explaining that the change in social and corporate life is happening faster than in any other period in history, Ulker said, “This change has prepared and continues to prepare a very productive environment for the emergence of new companies and initiatives. In this direction, I think that new investments in every field will accelerate even more, new ideas, new business areas, transformation of existing business areas … From this point of view, we are going through a difficult but exciting period for both investors and entrepreneurs.”
Stating that the number of investment funds or venture capital companies is constantly increasing, he said that corporate companies establish their own funds one after another, and the number of startups has increased significantly.
Saying that Turkey has an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is very young and open to new ideas, Ulker said that he is confident that this potential will attract even greater attention all over the world in the upcoming period.
He stated, “As Yildiz Ventures, we aim to contribute to the sector by supporting the startup ecosystem with our investment programs. We continue to evaluate new business models and ideas, we aim to ensure the realization of new startups and to further grow some of them with our investments.”
“istegelsin stood out as an innovative initiative shaping the market”
Stating that their agenda was quite busy in 2020, Ulker said that they expect more intensity this year.
He noted the following:
“As Yildiz Ventures, we have three main activities: incubation, financial investment and the startup acceleration program to be carried out with food focus.
Within the scope of incubation, we evaluate the ideas that will support our main business verticals. We focus on developing and maturing the ideas that strategically and technologically support our current business within Yildiz Ventures. Parallel to the world, Turkey showed great breakthrough and expansion during the e-commerce pandemic period. The biggest incubation investment we made last year was istegelsin, which we believe will support our competence and strength in this field. Thanks to the know-how provided by Yildiz Ventures, Turkey’s first online supermarket istegelsin has stood out as an innovative initiative that guides the market in online grocery shopping.
Another initiative that we invested in the field of food was EuroFresh. This initiative delivers washed and chopped vegetable fruits, which are extremely practical to use, in parallel with changing consumer behavior.
On the financial investment side, we continue our work with a wider focus. We came together with many initiatives last year. 2020 was a year of dynamism especially in the fields of FinTech, SaaS (software as a service), and artificial intelligence. We will continue to evaluate high potential and growth initiatives seeking financial and strategic support, but not limited to these areas.”
Yildiz Holding is the first customer of startups that receive support
Ulker stated that they are carrying out the acceleration program, which they initiated to support early-stage food initiatives, together with its global business partner Chicago-based Sente Foundry, and that they primarily evaluate the applications of entrepreneurs within the scope of the program.
Explaining that they started the six-week acceleration module with the initiatives they consider strategically suitable, Ulker said, “In this way, we invested in six startups within the scope of the acceleration program. Start-ups Arkim, Paragon Pure, and Nom were selected for the second Acceleration Program in 2020.
In the first stage, we provided financial support of $75 thousand to these initiatives. In addition to the financial support, another important support is that we offer the initiatives the opportunity to cooperate with the corporate companies with the reference of Yildiz Ventures and at the same time that their first customers are Yildiz Holding companies.”
“istegelsin provides its users with a new generation experience in every sense in grocery shopping”
Ulker stated that Yildiz Ventures made the biggest financial investment ever to istegelsin with an investment amount of $30 million. As Turkey’s first online supermarket, istegelsin became one of the important players of the sector in a short time. istegelsin, which offers an easy and practical shopping experience with more than 7 thousand product varieties, is currently operating in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Ankara, Bodrum, Eskisehir, Izmir. We expect istegelsin to show a rapid growth in 2020, and to continue this growth by opening new cities in 2021.
Stating that istegelsin offers the online supermarket service to other companies as a service, Ulker said that the cooperation with Apsiyon and the water order application Bisu was announced last year.
Afterwards, he said that the “Supermarket Next to Me” application was implemented with Vodafone, and added saying, “With this feature, istegelsin is a company that is not adapting to the new era but is born in line with the needs of the new era. It also offers its users a new generation experience in every sense of grocery shopping. For example, with the application developed with Mastercard, customers can give orders by voice. This year will be a year when other technological innovations such as voice order and new collaborations will come to life.”
“New collaborations and initiatives on e-commerce and food sector will increase”
Ulker stated that we are on the verge of a period in which venture capitals are beginning to focus on new business areas and investments will accelerate in this sense and that technology-oriented startups will increase.
Reminding that the epidemic has negatively affected some sectors globally, Ulker said that the entrepreneurship ecosystem has managed to turn this crisis into an opportunity.
Stating that some sectors have increased their importance in this period, Ulker noted that new business lines that we were not very familiar with before the epidemic entered our lives.
The e-commerce and food sector has started to work in a more integrated manner with the epidemic, Ulker said, “New collaborations and initiatives will increase in the e-commerce and food sector.”
Explaining that last year was a year in which the entrepreneurship ecosystem expanded, Ulker said:
“I predict that 2021 will be more active for the entrepreneurial ecosystem than in previous years. As Yildiz Ventures, our focus is on startups in the food and retail industries. As part of our acceleration program with Sente Foundry, we plan to invest in at least three early-stage startups this year in the field of food. I believe more startups from Turkey will find their place in the global arena. As Yildiz Ventures, we will follow the trends and direct our investments to new focus areas.
On the incubation side, we prioritize ideas or early-stage startups that we think can strategically add value to our business. On the financial investment side, we have a structure open to entrepreneurs from all sectors. We evaluate startups according to criterias such as team, product, business model, commercialization strategy, and target markets and make investment decisions. While doing this, we do not have any geographical limitations, but we can say that our priority is the geographies where Yildiz Holding currently has footprints.”
“We will continue to support startups”
Yildiz Ventures Founder and CEO Yahya Ulker continued his words as follows:
“In 2021, we will continue to support our existing investments and accelerate their growth. On the other hand, as Yildiz Ventures, we have a structure that constantly monitors trends and developments, especially in the fields of food, retail, and technology. This is an important part of our business. Of course, we will continue to look for and follow new ideas and initiatives to support, invest and support startups.”
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz