SUCOOL supports innovation based start-ups.

 

Supports

SUCool offers mentorship, business development and office supports to 5-10 teams that matches the criterias, every year. Chosen projects get support actively until the next teams are chosen in fall. At the end of this period, the aim is to complete and confirm the business models of the projects. SUCOOL gives scholarships to chosen entrepreneurs to send them to The Silicon Valley Immersion Program in June, one another project team to National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Program in July. Good performed projects can take advantage of the services of INOVENT incubation center, afterwards.

 

Strategic Business Partners

• Cogswell College The Silicon Valley Immersion Program: Chosen SUCOOL entrepreneurs attend an intense Silicon Valley program in San Francisco, USA. They will not only find the chance of seeing companies and entrepreneurship centers like Google, Hacker Dojo, Evernote, Stanford University Incubation Center, Plug and Play, StartX, Skype, Eventbrite, New Relic, Good Eggs, IDEO, Flipboard, Brightroll but also they can present their enterprises to them.

• National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Program is an accerelator program that is offered to the best student-entrepreneur teams in the world, in every July. Every year, one SUCOOL project team participates the Singapore University's entrepreneurship camp.

• Turk Telekom is the strategic partner of Sabancı University's entrepreneural activities with MIT and Singapore University. Every year, projects groups are getting trainings in MIT Global Founder Skills Accelerator Program and Singapore University thanks to TTNET support.

• INOVENT is Turkey’s first technology commercialization/accelerator and seed fund company subsidiary of Sabanci University. SUCOOL graduates whose projects consist of intellectual property and proceeds are accepted to INOVENT with priority. The teams will have the chance of meeting and working with INOVENT team while in SUCOOL.  

   

 

Mentors & Team

The most important value that SUCOOL offers is mentorship and business development. Coordination of SUCOOL is executed by Kutlu Kazancı (@kutluka) and Naci Kahraman (@nacikahraman). Academic support is provided by Professor Dilek Çetindamar. Our expanding mentor network has these leading names: Ali Karabey, Aytül Erçil, Dilek Dayındarlı, Elbruz Yılmaz, Gülay Ozkan, Melek Pulatkonak, Melih Ödemiş, Merih Pasin, Numan Numan, Ömer Hızıroğlu and Sidar Şahin.  

 

 

Who can Apply?

Sabancı University students, researchers and alumnis are prior. However, program is open to exterior applications. The teams and projects that meet a need in the market,  offers a better product or service, aims bigger markets and a sustainable business model are supported. A team, business model, product and progress in customer side are the pros.  

 

 

Examples of Succes Stories

The firm Somatech, that does semantical social media analysis, attended MIT GFSA program in June-August 2013 and came back with $15.000 prize:  "We, as non experienced entrepreneur-students, have faced a lot of difficulties in GFSA '13 program. However, every advice and example about how to grow a start-up to a company got back to us as experience. Shortly, GFSA is not only about improving your existing idea, it is also about learning fundamental experinces about how to give life to your next projects." - Somatech Team

 

In July, 2013, a robot and drone systems producer firm Inovatink attended National Singapore University Entrepreneurship Camp with their COLEPO project: "We went to program as 3 product development engineers. In the competition, finance and marketing based friends also participated our group, we learned to approach problems of our project with different perspectives thanks to both trainings and them." -Inovatink Team

 

 

Organization

In 2013, the Turkish Ministry of Science, Industry & Technology recognize Sabanci University as "The Most Entrepreneurial and Innovative Foundation University" in Turkey. SUCOOL is founded by Engineering, Management and Social Sciences Faculties of Sabanci University. It is a department under Sabanci University Entrepreneurship Committe that coordinates entrepreneurial activites with their partners. 

 

 

Conditions

Between December 2013 - September 2014, no payment is requested from entrepreneurs. SUCOOL become a partner with investing 3% of the limited company. After partnership, one year support continues free of charge After that, the companies that want to get support from SUCOOL can progress the program with a little amount of consultancy fee.

 

 

Applications

Next program will start in Fall of 2014 and applications are open.  You can apply here or subscribe to our mailing list (http://eepurl.com/PZapb).  We will share the details and start getting back to applications by September.