13/12/2023
Sabancı University, which set out on a journey to support entrepreneurship by establishing Inovent, Turkey's first technology commercialization company, in 2006, launched the SUCool Incubation Center and J-Start Venture Capital Investment Fund with a ceremony..
Speaking at the ceremony, Sabancı University President Yusuf Leblebici said, “We established an Innovation office for the first time among all universities in Turkey. We are proud to have a Chief Innovation Officer dedicated to this task. No other university in Turkey has this. In addition, in cooperation with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ), we launched an investment fund to support all these activities. We are hoping to grow this investment fund in the near future to even higher levels”.
SUCool, which has been providing comprehensive support services to early stage entrepreneurs by guiding them within Sabancı University since 2013, opened its new Incubation Center on Sabancı University Tuzla Campus with a ceremony.
Sabancı University, which embarked on its journey of supporting entrepreneurship by establishing Inovent, Turkey's first technology commercialization company, will provide startups in high technology categories such as Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Material Technologies, Financial Technologies, Education Technologies, Smart Cities, Digital Health, Big Data Analytics and Cyber Security a free working opportunity in an academic environment with its SUCool Incubation Center.
The ceremony also included the signing of the J-START Venture Capital Investment Fund, of which Sabancı Ventures, venture capital company of Sabancı Holding, and Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) are investors, and which will be implemented in cooperation with Sabancı University. The investment fund will support innovative ideas by investing in technology-focused initiatives. The J-START Cooperation Agreement was signed by Ali Çalışkan, Sabancı University Secretary General, and Fady Jameel, ALJ International Vice President and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors.
“AT SUCOOL INCUBATION CENTER, WE WILL SUPPORT EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO FOLLOW THEIR DREAMS”
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Incubation Center, Sabancı University President Yusuf Leblebici stated that approximately 50 of some 1000 students who graduate from Sabancı University every year prefer to establish their own companies. He said, “50 students each year is a good number. And it is our duty to open the road for them and to give them all the possible infrastructure and support to make this a reality. And with this intention, we started developing our ecosystem internally. We established, for the first time among all universities in Turkey, the office of Chief Innovation Officer. We are proud to have a Chief Innovation Officer dedicated to this task. No other university has this in Turkey. And also, through our collaboration with the ALJ Group, we have established an investment fund to support all these activities and we are hoping to grow this investment fund in the near future to even higher levels
“This represents a great opportunity, not only for the students, but also for our employees, for our teaching staff, for our research staff. For anyone who wishes to develop their own ideas and pursue this dream of setting up their own startup companies and being successful, there will be possibilities supported actively by the university and we will open the road for them to be successful. And each success will be our success as Sabancı University”.
Cosmotree, a new initiative from SUCool Incubation Center, was also introduced at the opening. Cosmotree, a system consisting of the algae that produces more than 70 percent of the oxygen in the world, offers a sustainable solution that can reduce companies' carbon footprints.
INOVENT AND SUCOOL ENCOURAGE ENTREPRENEURS
The mission of Inovent, a technology transfer and seed fund company founded by Sabancı University in 2006, is to accelerate the commercialization of early-stage technologies at universities and encourage entrepreneurship at Sabancı University.
SUCool is a Startup Incubator that aims to support early-stage ideas and help entrepreneurs become readier and act faster for their entrepreneurial journey.
SUCool Incubation Center offers start-ups a unique space to work, collaborate and network, with a working environment equipped with the latest technology and facilities to provide start-ups with the resources they need to be successful.
THE FUND WILL GIVE PRIORITY TO START-UPS FROM UNIVERSITIES
J-START Fund will invest in start-ups established in Turkey and give priority to deep-tech start-ups. Therefore, start-ups from universities will have the priority. Inovent will provide consultancy and scouting services for the fund. There will be a representative from both holdings and the university in the Investment Committee, and this committee will decide on investment in start-ups to be selected from the portfolio of suggestions brought by Inovent.