ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE — June 5, 2026 — The Center for Applied Research in Finance (CARF) hosted the RIPPLE Meetup Türkiye on Friday, 5 June 2026 at Boğaziçi University, bringing together leaders of Entrepreneurship Support Organizations (ESOs), incubators, accelerators, university centers, investors, and policymakers from Türkiye, the MENA region, and beyond, under the theme “Strengthening Entrepreneurship Support Organizations Through Peer Learning & Cross-Ecosystem Collaboration.”
Prof. Dr. A. Vedat Akgiray, Chairman of the Board of CARF and Professor of Finance at Boğaziçi University, opened the meetup as host. In his opening remarks he welcomed participants, set out the day’s theme, and underscored the role of strong support organizations as a multiplier for sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems.
The keynote was delivered by Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy, President & CEO of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) and Deputy Chair and Teaching Professor of Management at the George Washington University School of Business (USA), who addressed the evolving reality and future of entrepreneurship support in the region.
Ahead of the roundtable, Dr. Heba Alashry, Director of the AAST Entrepreneurship Center at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, the center that initiated the RIPPLE platform, addressed participants on RIPPLE’s mission to empower entrepreneurship support organizations as a multiplier across national and regional ecosystems.
A roundtable discussion then opened the floor to all participants under the theme “What Works & What Does Not Work in Entrepreneurship Support Organizations?” The open peer dialogue covered sustainable models for ESOs, founder-centered program design, university entrepreneurship and youth engagement, effectively engaging investors and mentors, internationalization and ecosystem partnerships, funding and sustainability challenges, and measuring real impact beyond vanity metrics.
The afternoon session was organized and moderated by Mr. Ivan Sandjaja, Managing Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), Indonesia, through thematic discussion groups. In small working tables, practitioners exchanged experiences on founder-first incubation programs, university innovation commercialization, AI and digital transformation within ESOs, ethical investor engagement, and cross-border collaboration models. The day closed with group reflections, key takeaways, and remarks on future RIPPLE collaborations.
Across the program, participants emphasized a shift from isolated efforts toward cross-border integration and actionable collaboration: sustainable ESO models, founder-first programs, impact measured beyond vanity metrics, AI adoption amid macroeconomic shifts, and ethical pathways between innovation and capital.
The RIPPLE platform was initiated by the AAST Entrepreneurship Center, affiliated with the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT), and is scaling globally through its strategic partner SKSEED (Saleh Kamel Sustainable Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Development Organization). Türkiye meetup was hosted by CARF at Boğaziçi University, with the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) as national partner and AGz Dev as ecosystem partner.
Additional speakers and contributors included Mr. Murat Onuk (Arz Portföy; Board Member, CARF), Dr. Wael Eldesouki Bedda (Secretary General, SKSEED), Mr. Sami Serdar (Director, International Incubation Center, Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum - ICYF), Dr. Ahmet Bilici (Founder & CEO, PROMATECH Maritime Technologies), Mr. Ayman Ghoneam (CEO, AGz Dev), Aadam Sümer (Co-founder, London Venture Capital Network), Mr. Abdulla Mohammed Al-Naimi (Managing Director, Doha Business Consulting, Qatar), and Dr. Muhammad Sharif (Director, ICESCO).
About RIPPLE. RIPPLE is an international platform dedicated to strengthening Entrepreneurship Support Organizations and enabling cross-border ecosystem collaboration, with previous editions across Egypt, Indonesia, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia engaging participants from more than 40 countries.
About CARF. The Center for Applied Research in Finance (CARF) bridges academic excellence with public- and private-sector engagement on the future of finance and innovation.
Media Contact: CARF, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul — This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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