Entrepreneurs competed; Turkish textile industry won.

TechXtile Start-Up Challenge, organized by BURSA-Uludag Textile Exporters Association (UTIB), in cooperation with Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO), Uludağ Apparel and Clothing Exporters Association (UHKİB), Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Development Agency (BEBKA), Bursa Technology Coordination and R & D Center (BUTEKOM), and TÜBİTAK, closed up with an award ceremony. In the last part of the TechXtile Start-Up Challenge, which was organized with the aim of increasing the value- added export through new technologies and methods in textile, 13 projects that got to the finals competed. In the competition held by important names as the jury, Ümmü Gülsüm Torman and Şeyma Kaya won the first place with the Pillow that Prevents Sleep Apnea ’project. In addition, 3 R & D Centers that deemed worthy of the project writing training prize were also awarded.

After the intensive evaluation process carried out by assessing authority, the 13 start-up projects, which were finalized, competed in the finals held at the Merinos Atatürk Congress and Culture Center in Bursa. In the competition, where 13 entrepreneur candidates competed, under the moderation of Ufuk Batum, CEO and the Project Coordinator of Ventures & Mentors League, and Pınar Taşdelen Engin, UTİB Chairwoman, Ümmü Gülsüm Torman and Şeyma Kaya ranked number on with '' the Pillow Preventing Sleep Apnea '’ project. Ahmet Yellice with the ''Nemflora'' project and Bülent Kula with ''Domestic Design ORC from Flue Gas Treatment Systems with Zero Waste Approach'' project came off second-best.

The winners received their awards from the hands of Pınar Taşdelen Engin, UTİB President, İbrahim Burkay, BTSO President, Professor Dr. Ahmet Saim Kılavuz, Rector of Bursa Uludağ University, Ufuk Batum, CEO and Project Coordinator of Ventures & Mentors League. 

“The process itself was an award”

Pınar Taşdelen Engin, UTİB President who made evaluations about the competition, stated that she had the chance to observe the developments of entrepreneur candidates quite closely during the competition and that the biggest award was to see the development itself. Taşdelen Engin stating that the process itself was already an award, added that: “Taking into account the winners, losers, or those who could not make up to the finals and stuck in the previous stages of the competition, I can say that it was a process that everyone benefited a lot. In such competitions, it is not easy to narrow down the subject. Though, I believe we were successful enough. Additionally, I deeply hope to experience a more fruitful process in the coming years with a much more growing TechXtile Start-Up Challenge. From the very beginning, we acted together with all stakeholders. Therefore, I would like to thank each and everyone who contributed to this process.

Significant prizes to winners 

Taşdelen Engin, who gave information about the awards won in the competition, stated that; our first 6 finalists, will receive a 1-year consultancy and mentorship in Bursa Technical University Incubation Center, patent application support, start-up support, and 1-year accounting support to companies, and training and mentorship from Uludağ University Technology Transfer Office.

The second and third winners will be given the right to participate in the Techtextil Frankfurt Textile Fair in Germany, while the winner of the project will have the right to participate in a 10-day Incubation and Accelerator Program in Milan. In addition, 13 entrepreneurs who made presentations on the stage in the final will receive mentoring support from Ufuk Batum, CEO and Project Coordinator of Ventures & Mentors League for a year.

AWARD-WINNING PROJECTS

1-ÜMMÜ GÜLSÜM TORMAN

PILLOW, PREVENTING SLEEP APNEA

2- AHMET YELLİCE

NEMFLORA

2- AKIN BURAK ETEMOĞLU PROF. DR.

PRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY FROM DOMESTIC GAS TREATMENT SYSTEMS WITH DOMESTIC DESIGN ORC (ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE) PROCESS WITH ZERO WASTE APPROACH

4- ÇAĞATAY YÜCELEN

SKYDOME INDUSTRIAL DATA PLATFORM

5- ERHAN DEMİRCİOĞLU

COMBINED ELECTROCHEMICAL TREATMENT DEVICE

6-BATUHAN ŞAHİN

FABRIC QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

AWARD-WINNING R&D CENTERS

- RUDOLF DURANER R&D CENTER BURCU BÜYÜKKORU

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW GENERATION POLYMERS IN VISCOSE, COTTON AND POLIESTER FABRIC SPECIES THAT IMPROVE PILLING VALUES AND GIVE SOFT TOUCH TO FABRICS

- YEŞİM TEKSTİL R&D CENTER MURAT GÜZEL

CONDUCTIVE PRINTING PASTE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

- POLYTEKS R & D CENTER NECATİ ER DİDEM EZGİ GÖRGÜN

TECHNICAL FABRIC DESIGNED FOR STAFF SAFETY AND COMFORT IN DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENTS