Startups have been announced for the fifth term of the Workup Venture Acceleration Program organized in collaboration with İşbank as the main supporter. The startups focus on problem-solving in many areas, from justice to agriculture and from shopping to education. The program was launched in May 2017 to contribute to the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Turkey and to support startups with a technology-oriented and scalable business model.

Workup has received more than 8,000 applications so far and selected startups for the fifth term following one-on-one interviews with the applicants. These startups, on the other hand, got the chance to present their projects to the Workup team, mentors, alumni and participants from İşbank group.

13 startups accepted

The startups admitted to Workup improve their problem-solving skills while continuing their work at Kolektif House Levent for six months. They scale their projects under the mentorship of Ömer Erkmen, the leading mentor of the program, and many other experts in the field while getting the opportunity to establish connections with İşbank and group companies in the meantime. No fees or shares are requested from the startups. The startups accepted in the program are influenced by each other's capabilities and ideas. Here is a closer look at solutions offered by three of the 13 different startups.

Mobile application solution

Cameralyze is a startup that develops AI-backed virtual assistants that analyze the camera images and make suggestions according to the results.

FakeFind, on the other hand, detects fraudulent accounts opened on the internet and solves them with a mobile application that enables you to use social media more reliably.

FeynLab offers a cloud-based platform that eliminates the development process of "internet of things" (IoT) projects, allowing all scenarios required for both individual and corporate users to be implemented without coding and installation.

No need to wait for your check

In applications such as Uber and BiTaksi, there is usually no need to discuss payment with the taxi driver. The check comes only as an email. How about you do the same in restaurants? Dine & Pay makes it easy for you to pay quickly without waiting for the waiter in restaurants, or to split the check and get discounts. So, there is no need to discuss money and credit cards in person before leaving the table.

Lawyer-friendly robots in action

As an AI-backed legal technologies startup, Adalethanım provides insight reports by analyzing lawsuits and case-law decisions in the fields sought by lawyers. In other words, software robots help solve the data mountains of lawyers. Besides, it can serve in all areas of law with its developing system by learning from the actions of users on the report presented. In other words, it makes a positive contribution to the functioning of the legal process and to making the complicated legal process easier for everyone.

AI-backed analysis of satellite imagery

The lack of accurate analysis of agricultural products strengthens the hand of speculators. Agrovisio, an AI-based agricultural technology startup, monitors soil, crops and climate with satellite imagery and provides analysis of the current state of agriculture. In other words, it offers information-based solutions to new generation agricultural entrepreneurs, thus helping the farmers create information-based solutions.

Head-in-the-clouds projects to meet at Atatürk Airport

Turkey's first aerospace and technology festival TEKNOFEST will bring together nearly 200 startups at Atatürk Airport in September.

The Take-Off International Startup Summit, the first of which was held last year within the scope of TEKNOFEST Istanbul, will be held at Atatürk Airport Sept. 16-19. More than 150 international mentors with nearly 200 domestic and foreign entrepreneurs and some 200 international investors and funds are expected to attend the program. In the four-day event, the startups will be evaluated by the mentors. Following the evaluations, 20 entrepreneurs will reach the finals. The deadline for the highly anticipated Take-Off International Startup Summit is Aug. 15, 2019. The Take-Off International Startup Summit, which is a significant event for Turkey's goal of becoming a regional center for technology startups, brings together international entrepreneurs and investors with their Turkish counterparts. Seven categories of technology presentations are evaluated and rewarded at the summit, which aims to promote Istanbul as a center of attraction for technology startups in Eastern Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

At the summit, applications in the fields of environmental and energy technologies, health and sports technologies, food and agricultural technologies, educational technologies, space technologies, financial technologies, and logistics and smart city technologies are being evaluated.

Do what you have in mind right now

Every venture has dozens of brilliant ideas, thinking they are the only ones that can come up with them. However, not new ideas but technology startups implementing these ideas as soon as possible survive.

Acceleration programs that enable startups to accomplish their ideas immediately are of great value. The startups that make the fastest transition from idea to project have a better chance. Teams selected for the new term of PILOT, the first venture acceleration program run by the private sector in Turkey, will receive feedback from the Türk Telekom mentor network of industry professionals, successful entrepreneurs and investors for 12 weeks to successfully implement business ideas.

In line with this, the startups that will further their ideas will benefit from Türk Telekom's robust technology infrastructure as well as opportunities such as office space, cloud services and mobile communication support. Türk Telekom will also provide promotional support to teams in various channels during and after the program. Shopi is a cloud-based solution developed to increase in-store efficiency of retail companies. With Shopi, which provides productivity-enhancing solutions in three main categories, namely Sales Operations, Employee Productivity and Store Operations, retailers can provide personalized services to customers by digitizing all in-store processes of their customers, monitor the performance of sales consultants, and centralize all retail channels and manage inter-channel orders independent of the store or device from which the order was placed.

It would not be a bad idea for your designs to turn into mobile applications instantly. Transforming the design process into a mobile application makes life easier. Monday Hero automatically converts sketch designs into iOS and Android native code. By creating a few definitions on the designs uploaded to the Monday Hero platform, developers can transfer the automatically generated user interface (UI) codes to their projects and complete the software processes, which, in turn, shortens the production process.

Be a global player in the manufacturing industry

İTÜ Arı Teknokent international acceleration program Innogate supports startups that set out with the goal of entering the global market. The information prepared for the application serves as a guide in this regard.

İTÜ Arı Teknokent summarizes its special recommendations for those who set out to become a global venture on the Innogate application page. It shares valuable details from accounting to human resources that the technology companies operating in the manufacturing sector need to pay attention to in their incorporation in the global market.

The company, which wants to open up to the global market, needs to do its research correctly in determining the target market and choosing the one that best fits its interests. For example, the central location of the targeted location and proximity to potential customers are essential when opening to a new market, while settling in the region where the headquarters of the major manufacturers are located is becoming one of the crucial factors in determining the target market as well.

Accurate positioning of the target market also means the removal of a significant expense item in optimizing logistical costs thanks to proximity to transport routes such as land, air and sea. Another decisive point for companies that have started a new market operation after determining their target markets is to establish effective internal communication. All employees should be told about the new vision, that the office abroad is not a dealership and that they should take into account the rules of different countries.

Human resources are important

Obtaining work visas for existing employees and hiring locals in the first stage to meet the needs of human resources in the global market will be a vital move in taking sure steps until the firm establishes a line in global positioning activities. Another primary criterion here is the high labor costs due to the low unemployment rate in the United States.

The company must comply with the new market regulations. In addition to the adaptation of information and accounting to the methods of the new market, costs of resources and tax regulations, criteria must be cost-effective as well. It should be noted that the criteria for the manufacturing companies may vary according to the service providers. Companies wishing to become a global corporation need to seek legal support during the research and selection phase of compliance with legal and tax legislation.

While the current calculation of the firms becomes more notable, working with accounting firms is extremely important. By working with accounting firms, companies are more accurately guided about the advantages of the regions in terms of taxation. As tax legislation is one of the most basic expenditure items, federal and state-bound income taxes should not be taxed on profits, but turnover.