Women Victorious in the Entrepreneurship Competition in Textile
The awards found their owners in Techxtile Start-Up Challenge, the entrepreneurship program of Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTIB), which received a record number of applications. Pınar Taşdelen Engin, Chairman of the Board of UTIB, expressed the following, ‘‘Despite the pandemic, we received 174 project applications this year. Sixty-four of the applications came from our women entrepreneurs. It was a positive development that made us happy that one of our women entrepreneurs achieved the first place.’’
The awards found their owners in Techxtile Start-Up Challenge, the entrepreneurship program of Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTIB), which received a record number of applications. In the final, where 13 projects competed, Duygu Yılmaz won first place in the individual category with her project titled ‘Production of Sustainable Textile Products and Vegetal Leather with Nature-protecting Biopolymer Obtained from Olive Seed Waste Pomace’, whereas, in the corporate category, Polyteks R&D Center took the lead with the ‘Biodegradable Washable Antiviral Mask’ project. Cansu Yanık and Ceren Danış won the award given for the first time this year for women entrepreneurs with their projects named Wearebasics. Sait Yılmaz with his Modafabrik project and Selçuk Şireci with the “Smarttex360” project came in third.
The first day of the two-day event witnessed several sessions. First of all, Skype Founder and Entrepreneurial Investor Jonas Kjellberg talked about the story of Skype’s foundation and interesting turning points in his life in his presentation on ‘‘Entrepreneurship and Creating a Winning Sales Culture’’. Visual Artist Deniz Sağdıç, Sustainable Life Blogger Gamze Biran Yenigün, H&M Europe Region Production Offices Sustainability Manager Hülya Sevindik, Barrus Chief Designer Neslişah Yılmaz shared their experiences with the audience in the panel titled ‘‘Future: Sustainability’’ moderated by InStyle Editor-in-Chief Bahar Kader. Later, Program Moderator Fuat Sami and Program Coordinator Ufuk Batum brought entrepreneurs together with the jury members in an online environment.
The Second Day Showed with Awards
On the second day of the event, the program started with the opening speech of UTIB Chairman of the Board Pınar Taşdelen Engin and following the opening, UHKIB Vice President Şenol Şankaya, Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO) Chairman İbrahim Burkay, TIM President İsmail Gülle and Deputy Minister of Trade Rıza Tuna Turagay addressed the participants in a digital environment.
The Success of Women Entrepreneurs
UTIB Chairman of the Board Pınar Taşdelen Engin pointed out that TechXtile Start-Up Challenge, Turkey’s largest textile entrepreneurship programs, continued her statement as follows, ‘‘Eleven of the candidates submitted projects aiming at a situation or a problem caused by the pandemic, whereas, we received 10 projects in smart textiles, 18 projects in virtual reality applications, 20 projects in technical textiles, 5 projects in energy efficiency and 1 project in economy. A significant number of projects were presented in areas such as sustainability and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, while nearly 2 thousand 400 projects have been submitted to us throughout a span of 11 years, 5 percent of them reached the commercialization stage, which is a clear indication of how accurate we are doing.’’
Deputy Minister of Economy Rıza Tuna Turagay:
Speaking on behalf of the Turkish Ministry of Economy, which is the biggest supporter of the project, Deputy Minister of Economy Rıza Tuna Turagay stated that such organizations are very important for the ecosystem and that they are working to develop the awareness of investing in technology and R&D. Turagay continued as follows, ‘‘In order for us to be successful, we must definitely invest in R&D, technology and innovation.’’
TIM Chairman of the Board İsmail Gülle:
TIM Chairman of the Board İsmail Gülle underlined that Techxtile Start-Up Challenge is a synergy created together and continued his statement as follows, ‘‘There are many institutions achieving this together, especially our ministries. There is solidarity among the institutions. It is very meaningful to come together for a purpose and the coordination of all subjects. As people who believed in the cause, believed in the future of this country and spent all our efforts to give something to the people of this country, I wish the projects of these invaluable entrepreneurs find value, merge with capital, and be instrumental in businesses that will benefit our country.’‘
Şankaya: ‘‘We think that this work will be an example for other industries’’
Uludağ Apparel and Apparel Exporters’ Association Vice President Şenol Şankaya commented on the subject as follows, “As Uludağ Ready-to-Wear and Apparel Exporters Association, we aim to create a hub that will foster entrepreneurship through the collaborations especially with Uludağ Textile Exporters Association UTIB, Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO), Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Development Agency (BEBKA), and Bursa Technology Coordination and R&D Center (BUTEKOM), as well as our industrialists, universities, technoparks, and techno sites. This event, where we contribute to the development of their ideas by providing mentoring support to all our entrepreneurs participating in the Techxtile Start Up Challenge, is a long-lasting and living process. We think that the results of this study will be an example for other industries.”
BTSO President İbrahim Burkay:
İbrahim Burkay, Chairman of the Board of BTSO expressed that the spreading of the pandemic to the whole world has made us experience a new era that breaks the routine for everyone, continued as follows, ‘‘The tension between the USA, China, and the European Union indicates serious signals of a rapid change in the traditional supply chain, especially in this process where we have witnessed radical changes. This wind of change offers opportunities for our country. TechXtile Start-Up Challenge enables the meet-up of Turkey’s bold and innovative ideas of entrepreneurs with the capital while ensuring classic profile investors with capital to make up the ground to be directed at start-ups. With the richness of different ideas and perspectives, the success level of our project is getting higher every year.’’
Bursalı Tekstil wins the Textile Innovation League
The nine finalists, each of which are leading Turkish companies, in the Turkey Textile League, which was organized for the 7th time this year, were awarded by the jury after the protocol speeches. Bursalı Tekstil San. ve Tic. Inc. was the champion of the 7th Textile Innovation League.
Polyteks R&D Center ranked first in the Corporate Category
Research and development centers competed in the Techxtile Start-Up Challenge Corporate category. As a result of the Evaluation Board, Polyteks R&D Center won the first place with its ‘Biodegradable Washable Antiviral Mask’ project, followed by the project titled ‘Odor Absorbing Air Purifying Technical Textile Fabrics in Home Textiles’ by Berteks Tekstil R & D Center, and Yeşim Tekstil R&D Center took third place with its ‘Ysmguard’ project.
