Automotive Exports September 2023

Teknofest competition turns projects
into innovative initiatives
The world’s largest aviation, space,
and technology festival, Teknofest,
continues to captivate audiences with its
groundbreaking achievements.
Following its record-breaking success in
Istanbul, which attracted 2.5 million visitors
in April, Teknofest is set to make its mark in
the capital Ankara on Oct. 1, 2023, before
heading to the western province of Izmir.
The festival, known for celebrating science,
technology and space exploration, is
now evolving into a platform that fosters
an entrepreneurial spirit and drives
innovation, aiming to transform projects
into viable startups.
Teknofest’s mission is to unite millions of
individuals under the vision of a “National
Technology Move” to achieve complete
technological independence for Türkiye.
In pursuit of this vision, the festival will
witness the development of projects in 10
distinct categories that have the potential
to evolve into entrepreneurial ventures.
These categories include Education
Technologies, Health and Wellness
Technologies, Transportation and Mobility
Technologies, Agricultural Technologies,
Communication and Communication
Technologies, Tourism Technologies,
Environment, Energy and Climate
Technologies, Space, Aviation and Defense
Technologies, Disaster Management
Technologies and Barrier-Free Living
Technologies.
The Teknofest Enterprise competition
invites high school, university and
advanced-level teams that have
participated in previous competitions
held between 2018 and 2023 to showcase
their innovative ideas. Divided into two
phases, Pre-Incubation and Acceleration,
the competition aims to support both
startups in early stages and teams that
have progressed to product development
and company
establishment.
In the Pre-
Incubation
category, teams
with startup
ideas or those
currently
developing
their products
will be
evaluated.
The primary requirement at this stage is
the demonstration of progress without a
specific need for venture establishment or
incorporation. Moving to the Acceleration
phase, teams that have successfully
transformed their projects into tangible
products and established companies
associated with these ventures will present
their innovations for evaluation.
Teknofest, with its commitment
to integrating participants into the
entrepreneurial ecosystem, strives
to facilitate the commercialization of
technology competition projects and
their subsequent impact on society. In
recognition of the potential of these
projects to fuel the National Technology
Move and transform into successful
startups, a generous prize pool of over TL
7 million ($268,901) will be awarded to
deserving participants.
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