Inspired by the disruptive character of the 21st century and accelerated by a global vision, we undertake unconventional projects created around pioneering business models. Based in Istanbul and founded in 2015, all our projects are created and developed internally, and are endorsed with strategic partnerships. A highly diverse and multifaceted team, Data Birikim’s founders, investors and board members have extensive experience and expertise in multiple industries providing a unique strength in today’s extreme competitive ecosystem. Data Birikim is supported by Google Cloud for Startups Program.
Be the innovative global leader in mass social discovery across all walks of life by capitalizing on the state-of-the-art digital technologies.
We aim to be a progressive facilitator of global social discovery and interaction, simultaneously enrich the process of self-discovery, by means of original and entertaining formats as well as content within the realm digital ecosystem.
Our board is highly diverse and multifaceted. All members have extensive experience in multiple industries and have proven results in their current fields. Among us are seasoned entrepreneurs and investors, an award-winning film producer (Gülen Güler), and a renowned actor (Emre Karayel) who has hosted "Wheel of Fortune" on Turkish television.
Co-founder & Chair
Co-founder - Member
Investor - Member
Investor - Member
Member
Investor - Member
Investor - Member
Consultant to Board
Gifted with an analytical mind and a creative spirit, Denet has a diversified background across multiple industries. With a degree in economics from a top Turkish university, Denet has worked as a strategic planning executive for Turkey’s leading conglomerate, Koc Holding. During his corporate years, he has gained vast working experience in strategy consulting, in-depth knowledge of project planning processes and management, and the ability to successfully design and implement cross-functional projects. Driven by his entrepreneurial spirit, Denet has also created many start-ups throughout his life, including Turkey’s internationally acclaimed and award winning digital news outlet Medyascope.tv. He has also utilized his know-how in consultancy services he has provided to numerous SME’s in the ever expanding and competitive Turkish market. Denet’s strong suit is his sharpened holistic leadership skills in new business development, strategic planning and execution which he has been channeling into digital and online projects over the last decade.
With a bachelor’s degree in economics from Turkey’s leading university, Tolga has a solid 20 years of background in the finance, banking and capital markets. While working in different positions in Turkey’s financial sector, he developed a strong skill set which include risk management, growth, financial consultancy, and quick decision making in Turkey’s vibrant economic scene. Today, Tolga blends his financial knowledge with his imaginative and entrepreneurial spirit, which gives him a unique perspective in project development and assessment. Along with these fundamentals and specialties, his solution oriented and determined character gathered with his adaptive team player behavior and appetite for global success, Tolga fulfills a unique role in Data Birikim’s future.
With a keen interest in emerging technologies and a perfectionist approach to applications of engineering, Serdar worked as the development and implementation leader of various projects which may be crowned as historical milestones in their respective fields in Turkey. The installations of the first automated television broadcast master control rooms for free-to-air and pay-TV channels (at Show TV and Cine5); the supply, setup and maintenance of headend and end user devices for digital TV and Internet services on cable TV networks (at Ultra TV), the deadline pressurized agent installation of betting terminals for İddaa (at Teknoser) are among a few of his achievements to address.As an enthusiastic engineer with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the top university in Turkey (Boğaziçi) strengthened with a master’s degree from an American Ivy League university (Brown) in Electrical Sciences, Serdar enriched his interdisciplinary experiences with technical services related responsibilities in the information technology (at InfoNet and Artech, Uruguay), energy generation (at General Electric) and electromechanical multi parking solutions (at Katopark) sectors, throughout which not only technical but also documentational and regulatory aspects of the issues were taken care of.Besides his engineering role and as an all-round sportsman, Serdar developed various applied educational and training programs on job safety aimed at field employees as well.
With a background in sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics supported by sociology, Gülen changed her career in education to become a producer, with the turn of the century. In 2002 she established Yalan Dünya Ltd. with which she became a successful avant-garde producer. Her production with internationally accilaimed film maker and contemporary artist Kutluğ Ataman titled "İki Genç Kız" (2 Girls) received multiple awards across Turkey's prominent film festivals including "Best Film Award" (2005) at Antalya Golden Orange, Turkey's second most important film festival. In 2008, "The Fugitives" directed by Ben Hopkins and produced by Gülen was selected as one the 15 films for 3rd Crossroads Co-Production Forum at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF). Her feature length documentary film production in 2013 with director Andrea Luka Zimmerman about memory through a search for the place of Istanbul’s dogs in the history of Istanbul -"Taskafa, Stories Of The Street"- was an Official Selection, Art of the Real, Film Society of Lincoln Center. Her French-Turkish co-production supported by ARTE & CNC -"A Cup of Turkish Coffee"- won Best Short Film Award at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (2014) and the 59th Valladolid IFF Meeting Point. As a dedicated producer Gülen has been organizing independent art house film screenings in areas where arthouse films are not made available for the audience across Turkey. Through the years Gülen served as a board member and consultant for various art platforms and festivals. She is currently part of “A European Odyssey, James Joyce". She also produced a political satire for FOX TV Turkey.
Şükran has a bachelors degree in industrial engineer with a MSE in IOE from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (2002). She is currently the COO of her family owned textile dyeing factory and hospitality investments in Istanbul. Prior to becoming an angel investor in tech startups, she operated a family owned duty free-shop chain across Turkey which had an annual turnover of US$50 million. Having a background in industrial and operations engineering blended with solid boots-on-the-ground experience, as a board member Şükran provides critical input for Data Birikim's mid-to long-term strategic goals.
As a multi-talented actor, Emre is one of the most well-known performers in Turkey. To date, he has played leading and various other roles in over 30 mainstream movies. Emre is also a powerful performer in theatre productions. He took role in "Othello" and in 2009 won the year's best comedy actor in one of Turkey's most prestigious theater awards, "Afife Jale", for his exceptional performance in "Testosteron". He has also brought to life a number of popular characters in across Turkey's successful drama series. Notably, his leading male character as Ozan in the adaptation of the French comedy series "One male, one female" (Un gars, une fille); which took Turkish viewers by storm. The series aired for 9 seasons between 2008 and 2017, was one of the longest running and beloved shows in Turkey. Between July 2018-May 2020, Emre hosted the game show "Wheel of Fortune" on Turkish television. He is also a gifted puppet artist and is currently in production of a self-created children's puppet show for Turkish State Television (TRT).
Gülru has a degree in economics from Turkey’s prominent university Middle East Technical University. Throughout the 1990’s she worked as a sales executive in Dow Chemical Turkey. At the dawn of the new millennia she became an environmentalist and a sustainability advocate. As she converted her corporate background into economically, environmentally and socially impacted topics, Gülru worked as a consultant for various NGO lead projects across Turkey, mostly funded by the EU. Also an investor in various tech start-ups, Gülru channels her project design, monitoring and evaluation expertise into hand picked innovative projects. In parallel she continues working as a volunteer in sustainability and environmental projects.
Anna is an experienced audiovisual project manager, showcaller and filmmaker. Located in Barcelona, she collaborates with companies in the audiovisual and technological sector to conceptualize and coordinate new projects. She directed her first film, the documentary “A la puta strasse. Not just a Barcelona” , a film that depicts the end of an era in Barcelona, after the closure of the bar that was the temple of bohemia and underground. It is available on Netflix. Anna is also involved as a co-director in Zoom Festival International Audiovisual Content Festival of Catalonia, since 2003. It is the only international audiovisual content festival in Spain that gives visibility to quality contents, in various formats and created for digital platforms, social networks and traditional televisions. As a consultant Anna's solid approach of the audiovisual industry and sharp understanding of today's content world and her keen eye on innovative concepts are assisting Data Birikim in bringing its pioneering formats to life.
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