YTU Yıldız Teknopark has launched the largest incubation center in the Istanbul region in mobile gaming and esports vertical with the support of ISTKA.
The ‘GamesUP Project’, which will continue for 18 months, aims to bring the initiatives in the idea stage to the market and to move the initiatives in the product phase to the global markets. The GamesUp project, which will be the largest incubation center in Istanbul for gaming and esports, will also contribute significantly to the growth of the existing ecosystem.
To support innovative entrepreneurs of Yildiz Technical University; YTU Yıldız Teknopark, which was established in 2003 in order to ensure that existing small initiatives are moved to the national and international market and to produce commercial values by transferring scientific knowledge at the university to innovative initiatives, continues its work rapidly. YTU Yildiz Teknopark, which set out to support the game and esports ecosystem that is growing rapidly in Turkey and around the world and accelerating with the pandemic, established the Acceleration and Incubation Center for Gaming and Esports Vertical with the support of the Istanbul Development Agency Entrepreneurship Financial Support Program. The GamesUP Program, which was implemented in partnership with the Information Commercialization Center and the Football Istanbul Esports Club Association, will continue its activities for 18 months.
YTU Rector Prof. Dr. Tamer Yilmaz, who evaluated the GamesUP project at the press conference held at the Davutpasa campus of Yildiz Technical University (YTU), stated that Yildiz Technical University, which started its technology development zone activities in line with the entrepreneurial university model of the 21st century, has carried out many important studies with YTU Yıldız Teknopark for 19 years. Yilmaz said: “As Yildiz Technical University, we continue to carry out our pioneering activities with our long history and proactive approaches. Our incubation center, the largest in the Istanbul region, will make important contributions to the world of gaming and esports. By encouraging entrepreneurs with high added value, innovative, high-tech products and services, we will transfer the scientific knowledge of our university to innovative initiatives and ensure that new values are produced. I firmly believe that the products and brands that will emerge with the support we will give to entrepreneurs within the scope of the program will become among the largest in the world in the global market.”
Providing information about the operation of the program, YTU Yildiz Teknopark Deputy General Manager Isa Turgut Inci said:
“We will carry out all our activities within the scope of The GamesUP project at YTU Yıldız Teknopark Davutpasa Campus with the contribution of expert instructors, mentors and consultants. We continue to collect applications for the program through www.gamesup.com.tr . The activities of our center will be in two different lanes: acceleration and incubation. In our acceleration program; developed products in mobile gaming and esports vertical; however, we will provide consultancy and mentoring support to entrepreneurs who have not yet put it on the market or have only submitted it to the Turkish market, such as access to marketing, investors and finance, branding and institutionalization, user experience design, finance and law. Thus, we will contribute to the commercialization of their products in global markets. In our incubation center, we will provide training, mentoring and consultancy support in the fields of product market compliance validation, gamification, SEO and digital marketing, access to finance, accounting, law and game publishing, and support entrepreneurs with ideas in mobile gaming and esports verticals to develop and bring their products to market. In the continuation of our project, we plan to implement the Game Cluster structure that will operate throughout Istanbul. In parallel with the acceleration and incubation lanes, we will organize Investor-Entrepreneur Meeting Events during the project and organize workshops and workshops in the vertical of gaming and esports entrepreneurship. Today’s GamesUP launch will be a summit with the participation of angel investors, entrepreneurs and important figures who have a say in the gaming world. During the global growth phase from the acceleration programs of different institutions, startups will have the opportunity to meet potential investors and managers of the companies they will cooperate with. Since its establishment, YTU Yıldız Teknopark, which has been involved in all stages of the process of transforming new ideas into value-creating outputs, will continue to work towards becoming an international cooperation center in the field of gaming and esports.”
..
