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Second Event of the "Sustainable Future Talks with Entrepreneurs" Series Held
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The second event of the "Sustainable Future Talks with Entrepreneurs" series, organized by the Impact Investing Advisory Board (EYDK) to amplify the voices of impact-driven ventures and listen to their journeys, was held at the Bahçeşehir University Future Campus under the title "Creating an Impact Value Proposition," sponsored by Etkiyap. The event discussed developments in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, impact measurement and management, positive impact-focused funds and SDG approaches in entrepreneurship.
The event, held on Wednesday, 21 September at 10:00 at the Bahçeşehir University Future Campus, was attended by EYDK stakeholders together with field experts, fund managers and many innovative, solution-oriented entrepreneurs. Held with the aim of highlighting entrepreneurs' impact potential and developing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) approaches, the event created a platform where stakeholders could establish new collaborations and share ideas within the framework of the themes of developments in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, impact measurement and management, positive impact-focused funds and SDG approaches in entrepreneurship.
At the event, facilitated by EYDK Strategy and Administrative Director Hüseyin Yılmaz, entrepreneurs discussed the impact aspects of their products while also having the opportunity to meet valuable actors of the ecosystem one-on-one. The event began with opening speeches by Bahçeşehir University Vice President Prof. Dr. Tunç Bozbura and EYDK Secretary General Dr. Onur İlhan.
Prof. Dr. Tunç Bozbura: Describing his own generation as digital immigrants born in the previous century, Bozbura described the next generation as those who use technology and the generation born today as those who will design technology. Highlighting the importance of impact investing and management in line with the United Nations Development Goals in this technology design process, Bozbura thanked all participants for attending.
In his speech, EYDK Secretary General Dr. Onur İlhan said: "In order to mobilize global capital, we must first support the emergence of impact ventures in our country and create demand."
Following the "Overview of Impact Investing" session, which provided a general introduction to the themes of SDGs, impact investing, and impact measurement and management, and in which EYDK Secretary General Dr. Onur İlhan answered entrepreneurs' questions, the "Impact Ecosystem Stakeholder Dialogues" session was held.
In the session featuring Development and Investment Bank of Türkiye Deputy General Manager Seçil Yıldız, Vestel Ventures Innovation and Projects Manager Lale Şahin and Türkven Director Hale Ozsoy, the speakers gave information about their work in the impact ecosystem and presented their views on the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Türkiye.
TKYB Deputy General Manager Seçil Yıldız said: "Our responsible banking approach and our role in supporting sustainable development are at the center of our business strategy. As part of the way we do business, last year we became the first institution from Türkiye to sign the Operating Principles for Impact Management."
Vestel Ventures Innovation and Projects Manager Lale Şahin said: "As Vestel Ventures, while contributing to the growth of our country, we work with an awareness of the importance of social impact as well as commercial benefit, and with the awareness that this is a team effort."
Türkven Director Hale Ozsoy said: "We believe that venture capital has a mission to lead the sectors invested in within the impact field. For this reason, we have integrated impact metrics at the center of our processes for evaluating investment opportunities and monitoring our portfolio."
The Concept of Impact Funds Was Introduced to Entrepreneurs
In the second half of the session, Cem Baytok, founding partner of idacapital, one of the first companies to bring the concept of impact investing to the agenda in Türkiye and which has strategically adopted launching impact-focused funds, and Cem Leon Menase from the Investment Committee of Founder One, Türkiye's first impact fund, introduced the concept of impact funds to entrepreneurs, explained how they evaluate impact in investment decision processes and answered entrepreneurs' questions.
Founder One Investment Committee Member Cem Leon Menase said: "Climate injustice encompasses many challenges, from the scarcity of social and financial capital to develop renewable energy technologies to consumers paying more for sustainable products. Similar problems are experienced in fields such as health, education and agriculture. We value impact investments in order to overcome such challenges in our country and around the world."
Idacapital Managing Partner Cem Baytok said: "A venture reaching hundreds of thousands of users and becoming a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars does not remove its status as an impact investment, as long as its core impact thesis and criteria remain unchanged. On the contrary, delivering the impact created to the masses creates a great multiplier effect."
Impact Assessment Workshop Held
In the second half of the event, participating entrepreneurs presented their products to ecosystem stakeholders. After the presentations, moderated by EYDK Strategy Development Specialist Naz Erciyas, Etkiyap Social Impact Assistant Specialist Cemre Küçükkaya and Etkiyap Social Impact Assistant Ali Can gave the entrepreneurs an informative presentation on an introduction to the SDGs and the SDG Mapping framework. In the roundtable sessions that followed, participating entrepreneurs, moderated by experts, evaluated the relationship of their products with the SDGs and their areas for development, and created their impact value propositions. During the evaluation, the channels that need to be developed to enable ventures to highlight their impact potential and to build capacity in SDG approaches were also identified.
Collected Data Will Be Turned into a Report
The data collected in the various sessions of the event will be used to identify potential problems in Türkiye's rapidly developing entrepreneurship ecosystem and to determine the needs that arise for entrepreneurs to highlight the positive impact they create and continue on their way with a value proposition. Following the analyses to be carried out by the EYDK secretariat, the data will be shared with the public as a report serving as a road map.
About the Impact Investing Advisory Board
The Impact Investing Advisory Board (EYDK) was established by 34 leading institutions coming together. Currently with 40 valued member institutions, EYDK aims to make impact investing a mainstream investment model in Türkiye by bringing all stakeholders together. Its main goal is for Türkiye to rapidly join the global impact investing ecosystem and to undertake international collaborations, models and projects in this field. EYDK continues its work to support policy development and implementation processes and to build mutually beneficial global, regional and local partnerships.
About Bahçeşehir University
Bahçeşehir University (BAU), part of the BAU Global education network with 9 universities, 4 language schools and 2 K-12 schools in 11 countries on 4 continents, continues to give its students the chance to study in different countries around the world through various agreements and collaborations made possible by this international network. Bahçeşehir University students benefiting from the programs in the BAU Global education network can also make use of centers and institutions in different countries within a global education network. Made up of higher education institutions spread around the world, BAU Global students and alumni form an academic community spanning many countries on four continents: North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. BAU Global universities offer nearly two hundred undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in architecture, arts, business, communication, design, economics, education, engineering, health sciences, information technologies, law, medicine and social sciences. Bahçeşehir University, within the BAU Global network, educates global citizens committed to values that benefit the whole world. The institutions in this network not only meet the standards set by accreditation bodies in their own countries but also rank highly in the disciplines they offer.
About Etkiyap
Etkiyap was founded in 2020 within the Impact Investing Association as an independent, non-profit platform that carries out education, research and project development work to raise awareness of impact investing and contribute to the ecosystem. Etkiyap is structured to raise awareness of impact investing among individuals and institutions, to make impact investments an investment choice, and to carry out education, research, measurement, reporting, publication, project and consultancy activities related to impact investing practices.
