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Webrazzi Summit 2023, Turkey's most influential technology and entrepreneurship conference, took place with the participation of more than 2,000 attendees and 25 sponsors. The conference featured 80 domestic and international speakers, and 35 startups took the stage.

TURKEY - On October 25th, at Wyndham Grand Istanbul Levent, Webrazzi Summit 2023 took place with the opening speech delivered by Webrazzi Founder and CEO Arda Kutsal. Expert speakers shared insights on technology and entrepreneurship with the participants.

Arda Kutsal, announcing the next event of Tech.EU, a Webrazzi Group company based in London, revealed that Tech.EU Summit 2024 will be held on May 16-17, 2024, at Old Billingsgate, one of London's popular historical locations.

During his speech at Webrazzi Summit 2023, Mr Mehmet Fatih Kacır, the Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey, shared Turkey's vision for technological transformation and innovation with Arda Kutsal, the Founder and CEO of Webrazzi.

Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Mehmet Fatih Kacır, shared that the Webrazzi Summit is one of Turkey's most influential conferences, emphasizing Turkey's significance as a major industrial country. He noted the tremendous ecosystem built in Turkey over the last 20 years, with 101 Technoparks supporting 9,600 companies and over 1,600 R&D activities. Mr. Kacır highlighted the significant changes in innovation, research, and development in Turkey over the past two decades, stating that this success has instilled confidence.

Addressing the advancements in Turkey's Defense Industry, Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır mentioned the country's possession of seven Turcorns, indicating notable progress. He emphasized the substantial growth in global financing for technology worldwide, with Turkey experiencing a considerable impact in 2021. Despite a global downturn in 2022, Minister Kacır stated that Turkey continued to grow, and as of the third quarter of 2023, the country ranked fourth in Europe.

At the conference, Sezgin Lüle, Deputy General Manager of Türkiye İş Bankası, engaged in an enjoyable conversation with Arda Kutsal, the founder and CEO of Webrazzi. Lüle highlighted a significant step towards becoming a super app with a recent update of İşCep, stating that mobile banking has become a key trend within digital banking. He shared that 4 out of 5 transactions are conducted through mobile banking and half of the customers are digital banking users.
Lüle also mentioned that investment transactions, which have become quite popular recently, are primarily carried out through İşCep. Providing statistics, Lüle mentioned that İşCep sees the entry of 5 million unique users 13 million times a day, indicating the trend in mobile banking.

Speaking at Webrazzi Summit 2023, one of the speakers, İlker Güneş, Director of Digital Channels at Turkcell, expressed that 3 to 5 years of company strategies have lost their validity. He emphasized the need to evaluate and question strategies within shorter periods, suggesting a shift towards reviewing them every 3 to 6 months.

In the session titled "Shaping the Future with Increasing Visibility and Rising Impact: Blockchain," Arda Kutsal interviewed Yasin Oral, the founder and CEO of Paribu. Yasin Oral shared that in the past year, the number of Paribu users has exceeded 6 million, and he added that they have paid over 5 billion TL in taxes.

Murat Bitirici discussed the details of Odea, the investment-focused banking application of Odeabank, emphasizing that investing has become more accessible and informed.
Turan Yurdakul, Business Development Leader at Yandex Ads, explained the intricacies of smart marketing for e-commerce. Hande Aydın, Omnichannel Commercial Director at L’Oréal, discussed the influential role of L’Oréal Partner Shop, an AI-supported platform, in the company's data-driven decision-making and its ability to provide personalization with real-time data.

In the session titled "From Seed to Exit: A Adventure-filled Journey in the USA," moderated by Duygu Öktem Clark, the founder of Silicon Valley-based DO Venture Partners, participants including Şahin Boydaş (Head of RemoteTeam at Gusto), Gülçin Gurule (Partner at Manay CPA and California Office Leader), and Ekin Keserer (Co-founder at Akk.io) discussed how entrepreneurs can turn their innovative ideas into success stories.

In the session moderated by Ahmet Buğra Ferah, Deputy General Manager in charge of Content at Webrazzi, the perspectives and investment criteria of leading companies in Turkey were discussed. The participants included Cem Soysal, CEO of Inventram; İhsan Elgin, Board Member of Finberg; Şelale Zaim Gorton, Board Member of İnci Holding; Barış Karakullukçu, Head of Next-Generation Entrepreneurship at İş Bankası Group; and Merve Zabcı, Managing Partner at Logo Ventures.

Another significant topic addressed at Webrazzi Summit 2023 was the NATO Innovation Fund, which is 1 billion euros. The session titled "What is the scope of the €1 billion NATO Innovation Fund?" was moderated by Duygu Öktem Clark, Founder and Managing Partner of DO Venture Partners, and featured the participation of Ebru Dorman, Board Director of NATO Innovation Fund, and Andrea Trevarson, Managing Partner of NATO Innovation Fund. The fund focuses on verticals such as artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, energy, manufacturing, and space. It also expresses interest in autonomous vehicles and products, hypersonic systems, next-generation materials, and quantum topics.

In the session titled "A New Era in the Technology World: Expectations" at Webrazzi Summit 2023, Hande Çilingir, Co-founder and CEO of Insider, and Nilhan Onal Gökçetekin, CEO of Hepsiburada, shared their expectations for the technology and investment world. Throughout the session, emerging trends in e-commerce were detailed, and expectations regarding the daily use of artificial intelligence in the business world were discussed.

At Webrazzi Summit 2023, another topic discussed was the future of mobile games. In the session titled "What's Next in the Gaming Industry?" featuring Burak Vardal, Co-founder and CEO of Rollic, and Rina Onur Şirinoğlu, Co-founder and CEO of Spyke Games, predictions about the future of the mobile gaming ecosystem were shared.
In the session "Where Should the Entrepreneur's Story Begin?" that guided entrepreneurs with innovative ideas on how to grow their businesses and successfully launch them into the market, valuable insights were provided by Ata Uzunhasan, Executive Director of Galata Business Angels; İmran Gürakan, CEO and Co-founder of Ankara TEKMER; Lokman Ökten, Corporate Innovation and Projects President of Turkish Airlines; Selman Ortaköy, Strategy and Innovation Group Manager of Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank; and Yunis İsmayıl, Director of ITU Seed Incubation Center.

Webrazzi Summit 2023 covered various topics in the Disrupt, Grow, Future, and Startup Stage halls, addressing divergent and converged subjects. The Disrupt stage discussed topics ranging from investment to exit, CVC investment criteria to VC agendas, the gaming industry and expectations in the technology world. The Grow stage covered discussions on consumer trends for 2024, marketing strategies, food tech, and artificial intelligence in e-commerce. The Future stage presented topics like cloud kitchens, digital banking, education technologies, and entrepreneurship with stage presentations and panels. On the Startup Stage, 35 entrepreneurs had the opportunity to introduce themselves and answer questions about their ventures.

The event, sponsored by companies including İş Bankası, Odeabank, Paribu, Turkcell, Yandex Ads, Adjust, Inventram, L'Oreal, Manay CPA, Mastercard, Meiro, Borusan Otomotiv, Craftgate, PAYTR, Teads, Toloka, and Unilever, featured valuable partners in the Startup Lounge such as İTÜ Arı Teknokent, Lonca Girişim Merkezi, Kuveyt Türk Lonca, and Turkish Airlines Terminal. Karnaval served as the media sponsor.