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Declined by SafariScribe 4 seconds ago. Last edited by SafariScribe 4 seconds ago. Reviewer: Inform author.

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Bülent Tekmen

Bülent Tekmen, born in 1975 in Istanbul, Türkiye. He is known as a serial entrepreneur and investor. After graduating from Yıldız Technical University with a degree in Industrial Engineering, he started his career as a software engineer. He provided consultancy and product development in various software technologies including Fortune 500-listed financial institutions. His entrepreneurial journey began in 1999 with ventures such as Netron, later in 2007 mekanist.net.^[1], which was eventually sold to Zomato. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School.

Recognized for his ventures and investments in the finance sector, Bülent Tekmen founded ininal in 2010. Ininal is marked as Türkiye's first pre-paid card and e-money company, licensed by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK). Ininal reached 1 million active digital wallet users monthly. In 2016, Cheque-Dejeuner Group acquired the majority stake in ininal^[2]

In 2017, Bülent Tekmen, co-founded Colendi with Mihriban Ersin Tekmen. Colendi became the “5th Most Invested Company in Turkey in 2021”^[3]. After a Series A Investment Round^[4], Colendi evolved into a platform offering various fintech services globally, including investments, insurance, and credit. Colendi's goal of creating a fintech ecosystem led to the acquisition of SETL by Colendi in 2022. Shortly after the acquisition, SETL became the technology partner of the New York Federal Reserve. Colendi, with its subsidiary brands like Colendi Securities, SETL, and Colendi Insurance, provides various financial products after completing licensing processes.

Additionally, Tekmen actively supports early-stage fintech ventures through NextVentures^[5]^[6]. Recognized as "Internet Entrepreneur of the Year" in Turkey, Bülent Tekmen has participated in the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year - Accelerating Entrepreneurs program in Monte Carlo. Wired UK listed ininal among Europe's top 100 companies in 2013 and 2014.

Education:

Yıldız Technical University - Industrial Engineering

Harvard Business School - OPM

Achievements and Rewards:

Turkey's First Prepaid Debit Card (ininal.com) (2011)
Wired Europe's Hottest Startups^[7] (2014)
Wired Europe's Hottest Startups^[8] (2015)
EY Entrepreneur of the Year - Accelerating Entrepreneurs Program (2015)
Internet Entrepreneur of the Year^[9] (2016)
5th Most Invested Venture in Turkey^[3] (Colendi) (2021)
Fintech Power 50 List^[10] (Colendi) (2022)
Turkey's First Digital Native Deposit Bank^[11] (Colendi Bank) (2023)
Fintech Power 50 List^[12] (Colendi) (2024)
Turcorn 100 Program Membership^[13] (Colendi) (2024)

Ventures

mekanist.net (2007)

An entertainment sector guide application acquired by Zomato in 2015. Zomato entered the Turkish market with Mekanist in 2015 and withdrew in 2021.

Next Ventures (2011)

A capital investment company focusing on early-stage ventures in need of growth in the fintech sector. Established in 2011 through a partnership between Bülent Tekmen and Serkan Ömerbeyoğlu. Major investments of Next Ventures include Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI), SoFi (NASDAQ:SOFI), Credy, ininal, ipara, Circle, Chooch, Cashfree and more.

ininal.com (2012)

Ininal^[14], a next-generation payment platform, founded in 2012 to provide fundamental financial services to both individual and corporate customers. Ininal obtained an electronic money activity permit from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) in 2017. As a member of BKM (Interbank Card Center), ininal offers prepaid cards at over 20,000 points and provides the ininal Wallet application for all smartphones. Majority of ininal’s shares was acquired by Cheque-Dejeuner Group in May 2016, marked as one of the largest deals in the Turkish startup ecosystem.

Colendi (2017)

Colendi is a financial services platform that democratizes banking services by bringing together consumers, companies, and financial institutions. Integrating next-generation financial technology solutions with artificial intelligence and big data, Colendi has developed various services based on a scoring algorithm. Offers various new-generation products, including a fast and easy access service to credit with "Buy Now, Pay Later," aiming to increase users' financial literacy.

Colendi Sigorta (2022)

Colendi Sigorta is an insur-tech service provider offering new-generation insurance products through embedded business models on various platforms. Obtained the SEDDK license in 2022 and provides policy sales and support services on various platforms.

Colendi Menkul Değerler (2021)

Colendi Menkul Değerler is a hybrid investment institution providing direct and integrated ways to offer investment tools. Operates on Borsa Istanbul, Nasdaq Stock Exchange, and NYSE. Collaborates with Drivewealth for infrastructure on foreign stock exchanges, providing services on leading retail and telecommunication platforms in Türkiye. Colendi Menkul Değerler received its SPK Brokerage License in 2021.

Colendi Bank (2024)

Colendi Bank, positioned under Colendi Holding structure, is a digital bank that received its establishment license from the BDDK in August 2023. Colendi Bank, set to commence operations in 2024, holds the distinction of being Turkey's first digitally native deposit bank.

References

^ Fok, Evelyn (2015-01-29). "Zomato acquires Turkey-based Mekanist in all-cash deal". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "Multinet, ininal'ın çoğunluk hissesini satın aldı!". Webrazzi (in Turkish). 2016-07-12. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ ^a ^b "2021'de en çok yatırım alan 10 yerli girişim". Webrazzi (in Turkish). 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "Re-Pie, fintech girişimi Colendi'ye 12 milyon dolar yatırım yaptı". BloombergHT (in Turkish). 2021-09-14. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "Next Ventures - UK-based Fintech Venture Capital". www.nextventures.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "Next Ventures - UK-based Fintech Venture Capital". www.nextventures.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ Clark, Liat. "Europe's hottest startups 2014: Istanbul". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ Clark, Liat. "Europe's hottest startups 2015: Istanbul". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "Ve karşınızda Webrazzi Ödülleri 2016 sonuçları! #odul16". Webrazzi (in Turkish). 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "Fintech - The Fintech Power 50 is the annual guide to the most influential, innovative and powerful figures in the Fintech industry, shining a spotlight on those who are transforming financial services for the better". Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ Towner, Lauren (2023-08-21). "ColendiBank approved as Turkey's first digital bank". Fintech Finance. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "COLENDI - Fintech". Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "Turcorn 100 - OUR ECOSYSTEM - TURCORN 100". www.turcorn.gov.tr. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
^ "ininal'ın Çoğunluk Hissesi Multinet'in Oldu | Fintechtime" (in Turkish). 2016-07-12. Retrieved 2024-07-11.

Draft:Bülent Tekmen

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