Our Rector Prof. Esra Gençtürk Attends CVC Bosphorus’24 Organized in Collaboration with Özyeğin University

The second edition of CVC Bosphorus, Turkey’s first-ever Corporate Venture Capital Conference launched in 2023, took place at the Swissôtel The Bosphorus on May 7, 2024. Co-organized by the Entrepreneurial Institutions Platform (Girişimci Kurumlar Platformu) and Özyeğin University, a co-founder and the academic partner renowned for its comprehensive and multidimensional approach to entrepreneurship spanning education, research, and application, the conference was sponsored by Fiba Holding.

The inaugural conference, launched to make significant contributions to the entrepreneurship ecosystem, had focused on the structures of holdings and corporate venture capitals (CVC), as well as CVC strategies and investment theses of organizations across various sectors such as finance, automotive, and technology. This year’s CVC Bosphorus’24, however, delved into the trends, developments, and solutions to common problems in the investment world.

The conference brought together top executives from corporate venture capitals and nearly 500 participants from about 250 firms in Türkiye and worldwide. Among the distinguished attendees were Hüsnü M. Özyeğin, Founder and Honorary Chairman of Fiba Group; Prof. Esra Gençtürk, Rector of Özyeğin University; İhsan Elgin, founder of the Entrepreneurial Institutions Platform and Advisor to the Rector for Entrepreneurship at Özyeğin University; and Ömer Mert, a Board Member and General Manager at Fibabank. During the conference, our Rector Prof. Esra Gençtürk had the opportunity to meet with Özyeğin University alumni who were among the attendees. The conference also provided a platform to showcase thriving startups founded at our University, such as PACHA Natural Collagen and Protein Products and Counterfake, an artificial intelligence software. These startups are prime examples of our university's sector-integrated education, the diverse support extended to individual entrepreneurs, and the academic infrastructure provided for diverse areas such as social entrepreneurship.