Akbank LAB, Akbank's Innovation Center serving the development of Turkey, has been expanding its innovation and intrapreneurship programs since 2016. Supporting this culture with collaborations with fintechs, projects carried out and open innovation programs, the bank announced the first investment decision of the program it implemented to support its employees who want to establish their own ventures and to strengthen its contribution to the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Turkey.
In its first year, more than a hundred Akbank employees applied to the program, which is one of the firsts in Turkey, with their innovative ideas. The in-house entrepreneurs selected for the program worked full-time for more than 6 months at Akbank LAB to bring their ventures to life. With the evaluation of the Akbank+ Investment Committee carried out at the last stage of the program, it was decided to invest $500,000 in each of Waste Log, which digitizes waste processes, and Voltla, which improves the experience of electric vehicle owners.
“With Akbank+, we contribute to the entrepreneurship ecosystem of both our bank and our country”
Stating that the program is a reflection of the bank's vision focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, Akbank Retail Banking and Digital Solutions Deputy General Manager Burcu Civelek Yüce said, “As a bank, we focus on providing value beyond banking with meaningful digital solutions and services that make a difference. We focus on creating solutions that prioritize the needs of our customers and business partners and contribute to our world in line with our sustainability goals. In this direction, the innovation and in-house entrepreneurship efforts we have been carrying out since 2016 under the umbrella of Akbank LAB continue to bring firsts and innovations to the sector. Last year, we took these efforts one step further and created a program with Akbank+ where all our customers can create their own initiatives. With this program, which is a first in its field, our bank removes the obstacles to enterprises; It allows to quickly implement startup ideas with experience, research, mentorship and investment support. We decided to make the first investments of this program in business ideas in the circular economy and electric mobility. With the program, we will continue to play a role in the development of this ecosystem in Turkey while strengthening our bank's intrapreneurship muscles.”
“We see entrepreneurship as one of the building blocks of our corporate culture”
Pınar Anapa, Akbank Human and Culture Deputy General Manager, said: “We are very happy to realize the first investments of the program, which reflects the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative culture of our bank. The program, which feeds our competencies in the field of entrepreneurship, is an exemplary application in this field. More than a hundred customers who apply to the program with their productive ideas make our competencies and innovative perspective visible. With the evaluation made, our colleagues who participated in the program strengthened their competencies while maturing their ideas with an intensive training, mentoring and incubation process. Our friends, who have the opportunity to work on their initiatives full-time, will continue to play a role in the development of different ideas in the new period as Innovation Ambassadors. On the other hand, the burgeoning and economic, Focusing on providing environmental and social value, Waste Log and Voltla will nurture the entrepreneurial network of both our bank and our country. With the Akbank+ process, of which we are very proud, we will continue our efforts to support the career journeys of Akbank employees.”
According to the statement, Waste Log, developed by Mahir Okay Çelik and Ertuğ Sargut within the scope of the program, serves as an impact initiative and makes it easier for businesses to monitor their waste processes by digitizing them. Waste Log also allows individual users to easily recycle their waste oil. Voltla, developed by Akbank entrepreneurs Esra Gül Korkmaz, Özgür Barış and Kubilay Kulaoğlu, makes life easier for electric vehicle owners and also improves the payment experience by enabling all electric charging stations to be viewed from a single point and to create routes to the stations.
