NATO DIANA
Aims to foster a new generation of deep-tech entrepreneurs by providing companies with the necessary resources, networks, and guidance to tackle challenges ranging from operating in denied environments to addressing threats to collective resilience.
As ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, we are looking forward to introducing this wide network, infrastructure, experience and facilities to all companies as an Acceleration Center in the NATO DIANA program, together with the critical network we have acquired over the years in the defense industry and the investor network we have at national/international level.
Dual Use Acceleration Program
NATO DIANA
NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) is a program designed to accelerate the development of emerging and disruptive dual-use technologies that address critical transatlantic defense and security challenges.
By leveraging its acceleration program and extensive test center network, DIANA brings together start-ups, innovators, operational end-users, scientists, and systems integrators to advance compelling deep-tech solutions for the Alliance.
BENEFITS
Grants & Investment
High-Quality Training & Mentorship
Access to test centers
Access to extensive investor network
Workshops and Office Hours
Events and
Networking
Co-working
Spaces
HOW DIANA WORKS
Stage 1: Call for Proposals
Submit your proposal by August 9, 2024, 12:00 hours UTC. A competitive selection process will follow.
Stage 2: Bootcamp
IIf selected, an online meeting with DIANA will be scheduled, you’ll receive funding of 100,000 euros and join Phase 1: Bootcamp.
Stage 3: Down Selection
At the end of Phase 1, a competitive selection process will take place and a select number of innovators will move forward to Phase 2: Grow.
Stage 4: Grow
Phase 2 is when scaling starts. This is when you will receive additional funding of up to 300,000 euros to further demonstrate your technological solution, develop transition strategies, and work with investors and end users to identify pathways to adoption for another 6 months.
ABOUT ODTÜ TEKNOKENT
ODTÜ TEKNOKENT offers a comprehensive range of programs for the companies and entrepreneurs it hosts. In line with its mission to foster technology-based entrepreneurship, it provides a variety of support services, including pre-incubation programs, incubation centers, investment funds, commercialization of academic knowledge, and clusters aimed at fostering inter-company collaborations.
The companies operating in ODTÜ TEKNOKENT are as follows:
The remaining 3% are engaged in R&D in other fields such as advanced materials, agriculture, food, aerospace, automotive, etc.
Technopark COMPANIES
400+
BIG SUCCESS RATE
60%
ATOM Graduates
1600+
YFYI Graduates
1000+
TSSK COMPANIES
140+
Ready to start your innovation journey?
VC NETWORK
ACCELERATOR PROGRAMS
Prior to the NATO DIANA Program, we designed the DUALSPARK – Dual-Use Acceleration Program for our companies that operate in the civilian sectors for Dual-Use and want to move into the defense industry market, or that are in the defense industry and want to enter the civilian market. We are conducting our program with more than 10 entrepreneurs and more than 20 technical and business mentors in our program, which we published the first call in February 2024 and launched with the first entrepreneurs in April 2024.
In this program, which was designed as a first in Turkey within the framework of Dual Use, we have more than 20 mentors who are experts in the defense industry, who have high experience in business mentoring, and companies that mostly operate in the civilian sector and want to enter the defense industry. In this context, we have prepared a 50-hour training package on effective management and leadership, storytelling, negotiation process, pre&post investment process from entrepreneur’s perspective, defense industry procurement processes, brand value determination and marketing strategies, pitch deck preparation from VC perspective and vice versa.At the end of the program, we organized a Demo Day with the participation of major players, investors and DUALSPARK initiatives operating in Turkey’s civil and defense sectors and with which we are already involved in many collaborations as ODTÜ Teknokent. As a program output, we always aim to enable our program graduates to network with the right actors in the sectors in which they want to operate and at the same time to increase qualified applications from Turkey to the NATO DIANA Program. Through DUALSPARK, which we plan to publish its call twice a year, we will be able to create a brand-new network in the entrepreneurship ecosystem as a first in Turkey and contribute to the creation of qualified and sustainable initiatives within the framework of Dual Use.
At the end of the program, we organized a Demo Day with the participation of major players, investors and DUALSPARK initiatives operating in Turkey’s civil and defense sectors and with which we are already involved in many collaborations as ODTÜ Teknokent. As a program output, we always aim to enable our program graduates to network with the right actors in the sectors in which they want to operate and at the same time to increase qualified applications from Turkey to the NATO DIANA Program. Through DUALSPARK, which we plan to publish its call twice a year, we will be able to create a brand-new network in the entrepreneurship ecosystem as a first in Turkey and contribute to the creation of qualified and sustainable initiatives within the framework of Dual Use.
The pre-incubation center called ATOM (Animation Technologies and Game Development Center), which was established by ODTÜ TEKNOKENT to promote entrepreneurship among university students and where entrepreneurial students can develop their ideas and projects in the field of game software and have the opportunity to establish their own companies, was launched in May 2008. This structure was created to prevent creative ideas and projects in digital games and animation from being lost before they can be commercialized due to lack of experience and funding. In a 600 m2 open office space and meeting rooms, students with skills in game software are provided with the infrastructure and superstructure they need to develop games, animations and simulations, as well as training and the opportunity to develop joint projects with companies. The ultimate goal is to create an ecosystem in Turkey where new companies are founded and human resources are trained in cooperation between universities and industry.
Under ATOM, the first pre-incubation center in Turkey, 30 out of more than 150 supported groups have become companies. The center has served more than 1600 developers and young entrepreneurs, and more than 800 games of different sizes have been developed by these entrepreneurs and groups, reaching a total of more than 30 million gamers.
For more information, please visit www.atom.org.tr.
New Ideas New Businesses (YFYİ) is Turkey’s first and largest technology-based entrepreneurship program organized by ODTÜ TEKNOKENT since 2005. Its main objective is to encourage young people, especially university students, to become entrepreneurs, to promote entrepreneurship throughout the country, and to introduce the culture of entrepreneurship to the new generation.
The “Yeni Fikirler Yeni İşler” Acceleration Program, which is carried out in cooperation with ODTÜ and ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, provides a suitable environment for students and recent graduates with innovative and technology-based business ideas to realize their ideas and supports them in becoming successful entrepreneurs.
At the end of the program, successful entrepreneurs receive venture capital support, free office space at ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, and free training and consulting services on any topic they need. The aim of the program is to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary facilities to realize their technology-based ideas and create high value-added technology companies. Therefore, the success of the program is determined by the number of successful companies that are created and how far these companies have come.
The biggest difference between YFYI and other similar competitions is the extensive training, consulting and mentoring support that YFYI offers to budding entrepreneurs, in addition to the financial awards. Each year, more than 100 entrepreneurs benefit from this mentoring and training support, enabling them to make their business ideas more realistic and marketable, and to express themselves and their business ideas more accurately. The exponential increase in the number of applications received during the period of YFYİ’s organization is an indication that more and more entrepreneurial candidates are being reached and the interest in entrepreneurship is increasing.
YFYI, which has enabled the establishment of more than 250 companies and the employment of more than 1,000 people in the 15 years of its organization, provides both short-term and long-term benefits by creating jobs, developing technology and spreading the culture of entrepreneurship.
For more information, please visit www.yfyi.com.
BIGG – TUBITAK 1812 Techno-Entrepreneurship Investment Support Program
ODTÜ TEKNOKENT is the implementing organization of TUBITAK 1812 Techno-Entrepreneurship Investment Support Program 1st Stage. Within the framework of the program, in addition to training and mentoring, the entrepreneur candidates are also offered the opportunity to exchange experiences and are supported to meet with senior officials and/or relevant R&D experts of ODTÜ TEKNOKENT companies in the sectors in which they want to operate, in order to get to know the sector closely and to create potential cooperation opportunities.
The physical space, office and infrastructure needs of the companies will be met in the incubation centers where appropriate training, mentoring, consulting and financial support will be provided to these companies in the incubation phase by supporting the companies that have been established with the TÜBİTAK 1812 Techno-initiative Investment Support Program within ODTÜ TEKNOKENT.
Detailed information about the program can be found at bigg.odtuteknokent.com.tr.
Consortium: ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, ERICSSON TURKEY and TT Ventures
FOCUS AREAS
Information Security, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Education, Electronic Systems, Financial Technologies, Wearable Technologies, IOT, Communication, Decision Support Software, Measurement-Test-Analysis, Virtual/Augmented Reality, Audio/Video/Text Processing, Tourism Technologies, Web/Mobile Applications, Artificial Intelligence.
Consortium: ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, ImpactHub Istanbul and ReDis Innovation
FOCUS AREAS
Impact-oriented, qualified and innovative business ideas in the fields of clean and sustainable technologies and industry 4.0 – 5.0
Consortium: ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, ODTÜ Technology Transfer Office (ODTÜ TTO) TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (TÜBİTAK MAM), ODTÜ MEMS Center, ODTÜ Solar Energy Application and Research Center (ODTÜ GÜNAM) and Sabancı University SUNUM Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (Sabancı University SUNUM)
FOCUS GROUP
Faculty Member, Lecturer, Research Assistant, Research Assistant, Researcher at the University
OUR INVESTMENT FUNDS
The aim of the Development METU Teknokent Venture Capital Investment Fund (Invest101), established in partnership with the Development Fund of Turkey and METU Teknokent, is to bring together the new generation of early-stage technology startups operating in incubation centers with capital investment, mentorship and access to networks. Invest101 co-invests with other venture capital funds to help early-stage startups move to the growth stage.
The objective of CARBON06, a venture capital investment fund established in 2024 in cooperation with OYAK YATIRIM, which provides brokerage, corporate finance, financial advisory, investment advisory and portfolio management services in capital market instruments to its individual, corporate, domestic and international clients with 13 branches in 11 provinces of Turkey;
With this Fund, which is open to all investors who wish to accompany the journey of initiatives that will offer high “impact”, especially industrial and energy companies that are planning major investments to reduce carbon emissions, we aim to invest in technology initiatives whose raison d’être is to reduce carbon emissions to “sub-zero”, with the belief that the most guaranteed way to decarbonize our economy, industry and atmosphere is, as always, through entrepreneurial power.
Growth Circuit SF Center is “Turkey’s business acceleration center” established by ODTÜ and ODTÜ TEKNOKENT to develop technology exports in the whole country, create internationally successful companies and accelerate the investment and business development processes of these companies.
Growth Circuit SF Center is located in the center of San Francisco, in the area called Silicon Valley. The center provides a wide range of services to support entrepreneurs in their expansion into the US market within the framework of the One-Stop-Shop approach. Support for Turkish entrepreneurs:
- Investment
- Creating a communication network,
- Provision of resources,
- Portfolio/technological product marketing,
- Public relations,
- Business development,
- Investigation of sales opportunities,
- Capacity building services
Growth Circuit SF focuses on conducting acceleration activities that will contribute to the international product/service export, investment and growth of technology companies and young entrepreneurs, conducting acceleration activities in the commercialization and investment of university R&D, and influencing Turkish companies that have grown/invested in the US ecosystem to make R&D investments in Turkey.
Our Investment Portfolio
CLUSTERS
ODTÜ TEKNOKENT is home to more than 400 companies that are active in research and development, including more than 140 defense industry companies, as well as many research centers and laboratories located within ODTÜ, and since 2010, it has clustered defense industry companies under the name of Teknokent Defense Industry Cluster (TSSK). These companies have vertical specializations that complement and add value to each other’s capabilities and develop new products and services for defense, aviation and security.
The development of indigenous and critical needs of the Turkish Armed Forces by domestic defense industry companies within the framework of R&D-oriented cooperation with universities; ODTÜ TEKNOKENT Defense Industry Cluster – TSSK, which was established with the vision of producing technologies for international markets through R&D-oriented cooperation with domestic defense industry companies, universities and other companies, has adopted the mission of developing internationalization activities and intra-cluster cooperation with its structure consisting of large, medium and small companies in the defense industry sector, as well as ensuring the correct use of resources and the correct planning of new investments to be made by transferring the knowledge gained in the sector to other sectors in Turkey and abroad.
In order to compare the Teknokent Defense Industry Cluster with other clusters in Europe and to report on its current situation, experts authorized by the European Secretariat Cluster Analysis (ESCA) in Turkey visited the Teknokent management and subjected the cluster and its activities to a benchmarking study and as a result of this study, the cluster was given a “Bronze Label”. The desired benefit of this benchmarking system is to apply for the European Strategic Cluster Partnerships (ESCP) program launched within the framework of the European Union and to establish a strategic partnership with a cluster in Europe.
With the establishment of the Defense Industry Research and Technology Development Zone (SATGEB) at ODTÜ TEKNOKENT, the R&D units of major prime contractors in the sector, such as Aselsan, Havelsan and TAI, were also located at ODTÜ TEKNOKENT. The TSSK consists of prime contractors and small and medium sized companies providing a wide range of engineering services such as manned and unmanned vehicles, advanced materials, CBRN technologies, protective vehicles and materials technologies, man-machine interface, cryptography, coding and encryption, electronic intelligence systems, modeling and simulation, simulation systems, communications, electronic and information systems, sensors and electronic systems, data link technologies, as well as testing, calibration, modeling and maintenance.
Teknokent Defense Industry Cluster companies have contributed significantly to many defense industry projects in Turkey in recent years. For example, ANKA, Turkey’s first medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, ATAK, Turkey’s first attack and tactical reconnaissance helicopter, ALTAY, Turkey’s first modern tank, MİLGEM, Turkey’s first national ship, and GÖKTÜRK 2, Turkey’s first high-resolution earth observation satellite, all use software, hardware and systems developed by METU TSSK member companies.
On the other hand, the Defense Industry Researcher Training Program (SAYP) was launched in 2011 between the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, METU, Aselsan, Roketsan, Tusaş, FNSS, MİLSOFT and HAVELSAN to ensure university-industry cooperation in the field of defense industry. Within the framework of the program, it is planned that the theses to be carried out or currently being carried out by students/researchers working in companies operating in the defense industry and enrolled in graduate programs at METU will be structured as guided projects in line with the medium and long-term research and development strategies of the companies and in priority areas determined by the Undersecretariat of Defense Industries.
In addition, the research and excellence centers at METU, which support the defense industry, also provide support to the ecosystem as stakeholders of the cluster.
For more information, please visit www.tssk.org.tr.
ODTÜ TEKNOKENT continued its clustering activities, which started in 2010 with the defense industry, in the field of informatics and telecommunications. Currently, almost 50% of the companies operating in the region are in the field of informatics and telecommunications. In this context, the Teknokent Informatics and Telecommunications Cluster is one of the important steps in the development and sustainability of a living ecosystem that ODTÜ TEKNOKENT is targeting.
The mission of ODTÜ TEKNOKENT Informatics and Telecommunications Cluster is to bring together companies of different sizes and academics to create innovative R&D projects in cooperation with the university and to achieve international success as a result of these projects.
Another important goal is to involve METU and relevant academics in all these studies (especially in potential projects) and to develop human resources at the university according to the needs of the sector. It is planned to organize necessary trainings and activities in order to improve the quality infrastructure of the cluster member companies and to contribute to the transition to professional management.
ODTÜ TEKNOKENT Informatics and Telecommunications Cluster member companies generally operate in the fields of enterprise software, information security, distance education, smart systems, mobile applications, games, e-health, big data and cloud computing.
In order to increase the share of ODTÜ TEKNOKENT companies in domestic and foreign markets, to increase their cooperation and to act together, clustering activities have been emphasized and clusters have been established in the fields of defense industry in 2010 and information technology in 2014. In addition to the existing clusters, clustering activities were initiated in the field of health technologies in 2016.
The established cluster was named “Advanced Health Technologies Cluster” and its focus was determined as “developing technology”. The “Advanced Health Technologies Cluster” is not an alternative to the existing health clusters; it will have a cooperative and complementary function in communicating with them.
OUR TEAM
Serdar ALEMDAR
General Manager of ODTU Teknokent
İdil Buse KÖK HAZER
Program Manager, TTO Director
Aytülü SERT
Program Manager
Feride Eylül ÖZKUL
Program Expert