About Us

Çimlen Girişim Merkezi was founded in Ankara in 2017 by three former entrepreneurs and the head of a university technology transfer office. Our starting point was simple: in Turkey there were many founders with good ideas who could not reach a first customer, a first investment or the right mentor. We wanted to close those three gaps in a single programme.

What we do differently

Each cohort we select only 10-12 startups. The chosen teams receive capital, office space, a prototype workshop, mentors matched by expertise and corporate pilot opportunities. Our investment terms are standard and shared openly at the application stage; there are no hidden clauses.

Çimlen in numbers

• 186 alumni startups across nine cohorts
• Total investment raised by alumni: 1.8 billion TRY
• 68% of startups still active after 24 months
• 60+ active mentors, 40 investors and 25 corporate partners

An independent structure

Our centre is not part of any university, bank or holding company. This keeps our advice to startups free from the commercial interests of corporate partners. Corporate partners offer pilots and customer opportunities; they do not interfere with a startup's cap table.

Our values

Honesty, speed and respect for the founder. We answer applications within 10 working days and give reasoned feedback to teams we decline. We try to build an open culture that shares the difficulties of the programme as well as our alumni's successes.

We would be glad to welcome you at our hub in Ankara Ümitköy and at our touchpoints in Istanbul, Izmir and Eskişehir.