The Women and Democracy Foundation (KADEM) opened a new center in Istanbul on Tuesday to help women turn innovative ideas into technology businesses, attract investment and reach new markets.
The Women in Innovation Information Center, established with support from the Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA), was inaugurated alongside a DemoDay event, where 20 female entrepreneurs presented their projects to investors.
The center will offer services ranging from training, mentorship and business development to investor meetings and coworking facilities. It will also include a child care room, with daily and professional child care services planned for events.
Speaking at the opening, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır said Türkiye had made significant progress in developing its technology entrepreneurship ecosystem, emphasizing that women’s participation in research, innovation and production was essential to the country’s economic development.
“Today, we can proudly say that Türkiye ranks first in the world in the proportion of women inventors among international patent applicants,” Kacır said.
He noted that the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) had provided TL 32 billion ($645 million) in support to 233,000 female researchers over the past 23 years.
“Women’s strong participation in science, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and production is a guarantee of our country’s comprehensive development,” he said.
Government highlights support for women
Kacır said the government had introduced a range of funding and training mechanisms to help entrepreneurs turn early-stage ideas into commercially viable businesses.
Through TÜBITAK’s BiGG program, which supports innovative projects at the idea stage, more than 2,700 technology startups had been established, he said. He also pointed to TEKNOFEST, Türkiye’s major technology and aerospace festival, as a platform that has helped bring thousands of startups into the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The minister said more than 85,000 female entrepreneurs had received TL 23.5 billion in support through the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization of Türkiye (KOSGEB) over the past 23 years. Entrepreneurship training programs have also provided training to 947,000 women since 2010, while development agencies have allocated TL 2.5 billion to 568 projects supporting female entrepreneurship.
Türkiye has more than 13,000 companies operating in 115 technoparks, employing 36,000 women, while research and development and design centers employ more than 28,000 women, Kacır said.
He added that technology entrepreneurship offered opportunities to strengthen the country’s economic and technological independence and improve its competitiveness internationally.
Women still face investment barriers
KADEM Board of Trustees Chairperson Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar said the new center marked another stage in KADEM’s efforts to strengthen women’s participation in entrepreneurship, an initiative that began with the launch of the Women in Innovation Program in 2015.
The program has received nearly 3,000 applications and hosted 235 entrepreneurs at its camps to date. In its 10th edition, it attracted 429 applications from 22 countries, reflecting its expanding international reach, she said.
Bayraktar also presented findings from the KADEM Women’s Entrepreneurship Report, prepared in collaboration with StartupCentrum to examine the opportunities and challenges facing female entrepreneurs in Türkiye’s technology sector.
Between 2019 and 2025, one in every four startups receiving investment had at least one female co-founder, while 571 female founders received a combined $1.4 billion in investment, she said.
However, women founders accounted for only 19% of private-sector investment in 2025, highlighting the continued need to improve access to financing and business opportunities.
“These figures show that women have the potential to become entrepreneurs, but they need more opportunities and resources to turn that potential into reality,” Bayraktar said.
She emphasized that women’s knowledge, skills and productive capacity could contribute more substantially to economic growth, employment and competitiveness if they were better represented in entrepreneurship, technology and innovative production.
Citing Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data for 2024, Bayraktar said Türkiye had 1.24 million female entrepreneurs. The proportion of female entrepreneurs rose from 13.1% in 2002 to 18% in 2025, she added.
She also pointed to government initiatives supporting women entrepreneurs, including KOSGEB’s Entrepreneurship Support Program, the Women’s Empowerment Strategy Document and Action Plan, and rural development funding mechanisms.
KADEM connects women with investors
The DemoDay program showcased 20 female entrepreneurs working across fields including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, agriculture, food technologies, gaming and sustainability.
The event was designed to connect entrepreneurs with investors, potential business partners and other stakeholders, giving them an opportunity to present their solutions and demonstrate their growth potential.
Bayraktar said the new center was designed as a meeting point where entrepreneurs could access a range of services under one roof, develop their businesses and establish new partnerships.
Alongside coworking facilities, consultancy, mentorship and investor meetings, the center will provide a space for training and experience-sharing. Its child care room is intended to make participation in events more accessible to entrepreneurs with caregiving responsibilities.