We Are Looking for Türkiye's "Internet Entrepreneurs"

Türkiye is being introduced to a new-generation Internet project. STARTOSPHERE, a project that will bring Internet-based business ideas together with investors and entrepreneurs, was launched at an event held at Bahçeşehir University. At the launch, Türkiye's most detailed Internet Sector Analysis Report, prepared by Startosphere, was also presented. According to the report, users in Türkiye spend 22 percent more time on the Internet than last year.

Bahçeşehir University and Lidya Ventures have launched a new project that will bring ".com" business ideas to be created in Türkiye, and their entrepreneurs or idea owners, together with investors and industry professionals. Entrepreneurs with ideas who want to set up their own companies but need support and consultancy will now come together within Startosphere to make their ideas ready for investment. Support for entrepreneurs will be led by Türkiye's most important investors and businesspeople, including Enver Yücel, Faruk Eczacıbaşı and Turgut Gürsoy. Founders of the sector's leading Internet ventures, such as Sina Afra, Nevzat Aydın, Ersan Özer, Çağlar Erol, Burak Büyükdemir, Arda Kutsal, Tümay Asena, Sidar Şahin and Tufan Sevinçel, will be part of the Startosphere "advisory board" ecosystem and will provide consultancy support to its entrepreneurs.

A comScore ACADEMY WILL BE ESTABLISHED

The launch at Bahçeşehir University was also attended by Mike Read, European Vice President of comScore, one of the most trusted institutions in measuring Internet user trends. "We are extremely happy to enter this business together with Startosphere. Türkiye has extremely interesting data in terms of Internet use and investment, and the figures support this. For this reason, as comScore, we are launching the comScore Academy jointly with Bahçeşehir University," said Read, stating that they believe in Türkiye's potential.

E-COMMERCE VOLUME IN TÜRKİYE AT AROUND 0.2 PERCENT

According to the Internet Analysis Report announced by Startosphere, Türkiye is the third country in the world where people spend the most time on the Internet. Google.com.trranks first among the sites most visited by Turkish users, while the social networking site Facebook.com ranks second and Live.com third.

Another striking figure concerns e-commerce conducted over the Internet. While total e-commerce volume in Türkiye is only at around 0.2 percent, this rate is around 2.5 percent in Poland, 6 percent in France and 10 percent in the United Kingdom.

Users in Türkiye also spend 22 percent more time on the Internet than last year.

The fastest growth in Internet use in Türkiye is in video. We spend 65 percent more time watching videos than last year. According to Startosphere's research, users in Türkiye watch an average of 200 videos a month, which means an average of 23 hours of video viewing.

WE SPEND THE MOST TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

Another finding of the research conducted by Startosphere reveals numerical data on which sites Internet users in Türkiye spend their time on. Accordingly, Internet users in Türkiye spend 27 percent of their time on social media sites, 16 percent on news sites, 15 percent on video sites and 6 percent on gaming sites.

HOW WILL STARTOSPHERE WORK?

Founded by the pioneering names and leading investors of Türkiye's IT sector and launched in cooperation with Lidya Ventures and Bahçeşehir University, Startosphere will begin with an application process that will open twice a year. The 20 projects selected from among the Internet-focused business ideas that apply will receive coaching and mentoring support from Türkiye's most experienced names in IT on the Startosphere management and advisory team. In addition to consultancy services, support such as software, Internet access and office space will be provided to entrepreneurs who want to make their Internet-focused business ideas suitable for investors and set up companies. Presenting the business plans they prepare under the motto "Be.com Visible" to individual or institutional investors and companies, Startosphere entrepreneurs will thus have the opportunity to work with Türkiye's best names in every area from the idea stage to incorporation.

WHO CAN APPLY TO STARTOSPHERE?

Anyone with a new business idea related to Internet ventures who has not yet set up a company, who is about to set up a company to realize their business idea, or who has set up an Internet-focused company but needs support in capital, management, marketing and other areas can apply.

www.startosphere.net