Roundup of Entrepreneurship Delegation (including full agenda)

Backgrounder of Entrepreneurship De/www/files/EDEL Roundup_200612_FINAL15.pdflegation

"This Delegation sets a benchmark for events on entrepreneurship in Turkey"

Emre Kurttepeli, Chairman of Mynet Group and Galata Business Angels Network

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"Meeting the amazing people on the delegation and hearing and meeting the energetic Turkish entrepreneurs made the week a truly worthwhile and once in a lifetime experience!"

Jim Boettcher, Founding Partner of Focus Ventures 

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"This delegation was both productive and inspiring.  We are all excited to stay in touch both with the Turkish entrepreneurs and investors we met -- as well as with each other."

Diane Hessan, President and CEO of Communispace

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"I am confident I will invest in and mentor at least one company out of this trip. I have met with local investors and have started to look at least 7 companies. These are all with local investors and part of their existing portfolio."

Faysail Sohail, General Partner at CMEA Ventures

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"Of all the official State Department-sponsored Entrepreneurship Delegations thus far, this one to Turkey is the largest in number (15 delegates) and by far the most distinguished in terms of professional investors (venture capitalists) and entrepreneurs, representing over $50 billion in combined venture investments across hundreds of companies including more than two dozen successful IPOs."

Steven Koltai, former senior advisor on entrepreneurship to U.S. State Department  

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"Two years ago, we would have had only clone companies and e-commerce companies. For the first time, I have experienced a big variety of industries. It’s an indication of the change in the Turkish entrepreneurial culture."

Sina Afra, Co-Founder and CEO of Markafoni

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"I think the local technical talent stakes up against any of their colleagues at MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon. It’s absolutely cutting edge…That was very surprising it was not what I expected at all."

Saad Khan, Partner of CMEA Capital 

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"None of the presentations I've seen so far are just Turkish copies; they're all new ideas, which is very encouraging."

You can reach more from wamda.com. 

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Previous Entrepreneurship Delegations by the U.S. State Deparment:

• Round-up of Egypt Entrepreneurship Delegation (January 2011)
• Round-up of Indonesia Entrepreneurship Delegation (July 2011)
• Round-up of Maghreb Entrepreneurship Delegation (October-November 2011)

The State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP) was launched by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in April 2010 at the Summit on Entrepreneurship hosted by President Obama. GEP is managed by the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.

GEP site at U.S. State Department

GEP Turkey

Embassy of the United States Ankara-Turkey