Women Entrepreneur and Women Investor Panel was Held

"Women Entrepreneur and Women Investor Panel" was held under the coordination of Ankara Development Agency, in cooperation with Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO), Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Entrepreneurial Businesswomen Association (ANGİKAD).

Ministry of Industry and Technology Development Agencies General Director Ahmet Şimşek stated that Turkish society has always strongly defended the place of women. Pointing out that the number of female entrepreneurs is increasing every year, Şimşek said, "Four out of seven of the start-up ecosystem that we define as unicorns today were founded by women entrepreneurs. Our women started to exist in the start-up ecosystem with quality and more valuable companies." he said.

ASO Board Member Burcu Özbozkurt also stated that the rate of female entrepreneurs increased from 13.1 percent in 2002 to 16.6 percent in the third quarter of 2023, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data. Noting that although this increase is promising, financing difficulties and gender inequality have still not been fully overcome, Özbozkurt explained that entrepreneurship is one of the most effective areas where women can reflect their knowledge, skills and experiences.

ANGİKAD President Gözde Diker, in her speech at the event at the ASO Assembly Hall, said that it was pleasing that the number of female mayors who took office after the March 31 Local Government General Elections increased. Stating that the role of women in entrepreneurship and investment has become increasingly evident, Diker said, "This panel is not only an inspiring and constructive meeting on how we can take women's entrepreneurship and investment even further, but it is also very important to share our experiences." said.

Startup Centrum Founding Partner Nizamettin Sami Harputlu, after sharing the current statistics across Turkey, emphasized the potentials specific to Ankara and stated that Ankara is in a very good position in terms of the number of female entrepreneurs, but that efforts should be increased to increase the number of female investors.

After the opening speeches and the Ankara Investment Ecosystem Assessment speech, the panel, moderated by Ankara Development Agency Secretary General Emine Doğrukök, discussed the potential and contributions of angel investment networks, crowdfunding platforms, technoparks and incubation centers in increasing the number of women investors and women entrepreneurs. speeches were made. The panel ended with one-on-one interviews and a group photo.