Te c h n o S p h e r e
Volume 01 | Spring 2015
Cover Story
Originally known as Çağlar Doğal Ürünler Limited Şirketi, we formed a limited liability company
in 2009. Earlier this year, we changed legal status of our company to and incorporated as
Mikroalg Gıda Tarım San. AŞ. With this recent development, the paid capital of our company
also increased from 100,000 TL to 1,832,300 TL.
My mother and I are joint owners and we have two employees who support our research and
production. I work on the technical side and my mother is managing the administration. We
are looking to expand and currently recruiting employees with similar scientific backgrounds.
Our company is headquartered in Alsancak, with an R&D office in Teknopark İzmir and a production area in Urla. Our next target is a public offering in the stock market; Borsa İstanbul GİP
(Markets of Developing Enterprises) to raise capital for further commercialization of our research projects.
“YOU WILL DISCOVER NEW
THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF
AND WILL LEARN BOTH SIDES
OF BEING AN EMPLOYEE AND
AN EMPLOYER. ”
What kind of habits helped make you successful?
I have always liked to research and learn new things and I think that is important in entrepreneurship. As the business owner, it is up to you to stay on top of events related to your business. I make sure to follow the news, review the recent literature, and compare what other countries are doing. Also, you must keep checking for government funding options because
there are several ways to get support.
One of the outcomes that I am particularly proud of is our company partnership in two recent FP7 projects for Small and
Medium Enterprises (SME). I was able to work with a consortium of companies, research centres, and universities from different countries across the Europe. (Projects: www.algadisk.eu & www.algaemax.eu ).This is a rare opportunity for a company of my size and got me in involved in the algae industry at an international level. These projects helped sustain our company, increase our paid capital, and bring us to where we are now.
What advice would you give to potential entrepreneurs?
I would like to remind everyone that companies come in many shape