Innovative Ideas for the Textile and Ready-to-Wear Industry Awarded at Uludağ Zirve Programme
At the TechXtile Start-Up Challenge, organized for the 5th time this year by Uludağ Textile Exporters’ Association (UTİB) and Uludağ Apparel and Clothing Exporters’ Association (UHKİB) with the support of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Trade, many entrepreneurs competed to be ranked with their ideas for the textile and ready-to-wear sectors. Companies investing in innovation competed in the 10th TechXtile Innovation League.
The opening speech of the program, which was moderated by Ufuk Batum, was made by UTİB Chairman Pınar Taşdelen Engin. The ceremony held at Bursa Business School, which is a subsidiary of Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the supporters of the program, was attended by entrepreneurs, as well as the presidents of exporter associations and many company representatives.
In the TechXtile Start Up Challenge, 10 projects competed in the Level Up category, where projects at the idea stage competed for the top three, and 9 projects competed in the Scale Up category, where projects that have passed the idea stage and commercialized. With the votes of the jury consisting of leading names in the field, Beyza Aslan won the first place in the Level Up Category with her project “Composite Raw Material Production from Textile Wastes”. In the Scale Up category, Ahmet Haris Lala ranked first with his project named “Harcy”. The champion of the 10th TechXtile Innovation League, where companies that create awareness with their innovation-oriented investments, R&D and Design Centers compete, was Sun Tekstil with its ‘Smart Garment Development for Use in Extreme Cold Environments’ project. Almaxtex won the Most Sustainable Project Award with its ‘Bio-Solution Returning to Nature’ Project.
Stating that TechXtile Start Up Challenge is a success story in itself, Pınar Taşdelen Engin said: “I would like to express my gratitude to the Ministry of Trade, Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO), Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Development Agency (BEBKA) and Bursa Technology Coordination and R&D Center (BUTEKOM) for their support. The synergy that emerged with the unity of power of these institutions has enabled our event to grow and become a brand every year. We have undertaken a valuable mission in terms of increasing the value of Turkish textile and ready-to-wear and contributing to the development of innovative products in the sector. Every year we move forward by thinking about how we can make the program better. This is not a competition or an event, it is a process and this is actually the biggest reward. Our entrepreneurs come with their ideas and experience an incredible development on this journey.”
“Waste to Rainbow” Project Wins Women Entrepreneurs Special Award
Beyza Aslan and her team won the Sustainability Special Award, given in the name of Bahar Korçan, a famous fashion designer who recently passed away, with the project “Composite Raw Material Production from Textile Wastes”. Saadet Alpdağtaş won the Women Entrepreneur Special Award, given for the fourth time this year to encourage women entrepreneurship, with her project “Waste to Rainbow”.
