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Team

Our Team

We assembled a team from diversified backgrounds with entrepreneurial spirit and product, business and finance experience.

Startups need the right skills, guidance, management discipline, and structure to sail smoothly amid growth opportunities and unpredictable challenges.

We work with founders across their growth lifecycle and walk with them through the complete journey from investment to exit.

Executives

Cenk Bayrakdar

Founding Partner & Managing Director

Berkin Toktaş

Founding Partner

Jaap van Dijk

Director & Compliance Officer

Onno Jacobs

Director

Our Consultants & Advisors

Advising Revo Capital through PupaGrowth and CB3 entities.

Sourcing

Scaling & maintaining quality deal flow starts with sourcing high-quality deals

Deniz Aslandoğan

Vice President

Deniz Şatıroğlu

Senior Associate

Orkun Ipek

Associate

Sarp Can Bayrakdar

Analyst

Growth

Hands-on support in growth, marketing, talent, global expansion & business development

Gizem Moral

Partner

Melis Gençtürk

Vice President

Berke Uçkun

Analyst

Esra Demiroğlu

Analyst

Gizem Karadeniz

Head of Talent

Fund Management & Finance

Berk Ahıshalıoğlu

Senior Associate

Gamze Canoğlu

Compliance Manager

Handan Yetişen

Financial Affairs & Operations Manager

Seda Doğan

Executive Assistant

Startup Application

First and foremost, about yourself

We keep this information confidential

Cenk Bayrakdar

Founding Partner & Managing Director

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Founding Partner & Managing Director, former Group CIO & Chief Product & Services Officer at Turkcell, the leading telecom operator in Turkey & 8 other countries.

  • Managed $1.8B annual revenue budget & was in charge of strategy & deployment of Turkcell on VAS products for over 13 years
  • Launched World’s first digital wallet
  • Led multiscreen Turkcell TV+ service with 1M+ subscribers on IPTV, mobile & web platforms
  • Led Turkcell Android smart phones initiative, the highest selling smart phones in Turkey at the time

Former advisor for Panorama, a Turkey-based mobile ECR-POS manufacturer; exited to Verifone.

BIST Private Market selection committee member, platform that brings companies & investors together to buy or sell shares without going public – a subsidiary of the Istanbul Stock Exchange

Berkin Toktaş

Founding Partner & Managing Director

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Founding Partner, former Head of Media Business & Head of Product Strategy at Turkcell 

  • Launched multiscreen TV service Turkcell TV+ encompassing 1M + subscribers on IPTV, mobile & web platforms, ran digital publishing service with 10k books & 100+ magazines
  • Ran entrepreneurship programs, designed a $100M CVC (ultimately not launched), made Turkcell’s first non-core M&A, acquiring Fizy, Turkey’s #1 music platform in 2011

Former Director of Corporate Strategy at T-Mobile USA

  • Envisioned strategic cross functional initiatives & supported M&A efforts, including $2.4B Suncom Wireless acquisition & failed merger with Sprint.

Jaap van Dijk

Director & Compliance Officer

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Seasoned compliance professional, combining practical experience with expertise on compliance obligations coming from legislation, rules and regulations. 

Profound expertise and experience in Finance & Risk management as well as other disciplines within the Financial, Public sector and Industry. 

Acted as CFO and CEO in financial services sector and has experience in M&A, both in dealmaking as in the capacity of Board member.

Onno Jacobs

Director

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Highly professional financial expert with entrepreneurial skills and a good eye for quality.


Experienced in initiating and implementing change processes, preferably with challenging strategic and operational objectives.


Acted in the FMCG and B2B industries as well as in professional football as CFO and Interim CEO. 

Deniz Aslandoğan

Vice President

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Marmara University | BA, Business Administration

Former VP of Investment Banking division at Odin Financial Advisors

  • Participated in both sell-and buy-side M&A deals in TMT, industrial manufacturing and energy sectors. 

Previously with PwC, worked as valuation consultant 

  • Participated in acquisition financing & feasibility projects. 
  • Provided buy- and sell-side M&A valuation services.

Deniz Şatıroğlu

Senior Associate

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Frankfurt Goethe University | MSc, International Economics & Economic Policy

Former Strategy Supervisor at n11.com

  • Responsible for corporate and business development projects. 

Previously with StartersHub, working on both sourcing and portfolio companies. 

Also previously worked at TSKB and 3 Seas Capital Partners M&A houses.

Orkun Ipek

Associate

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Koç University | BA, Industrial Engineering & Economics 

Former Asset Management Analyst at Ünlü&Co

  • Participated in stock & bond selection in both Turkish and global markets. 
  • Responsible for preparing macro economic & company specific research reports

Interned at McKinsey In the R&I department

  • Supported the collection, analysis and synthesis of data. 
  • Provided the necessary information and insights needed for projects.

Sarp Can Bayrakdar

Analyst

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The University of Edinburgh | Finance and Business MA (Hons)


Former Analyst intern at Amadeus Capital Partners:

• Actively worked on investment opportunities for the Growth and Series A/B funds.
• Researched data sets and prepared pitch docs to potential LPs.
• Participated in the creation of valuation models for deep tech start-ups.

Interned at market leader start-ups such as Getir, Onedio and 8Digits.

Gizem Moral

Partner

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Marmara University | BS, Econometrics

Former CEO of Emlakjet, the 2nd largest online real estate vertical in Turkey.

  • Led significant growth leading to 6x topline, 3x customer, 2x listing and 5x leads sent to customer growth in 3 years

Former Corporate Marketing Mobile Broadband Product Manager & Youth Segment Loyalty Manager at Turkcell

Former Market Knowledge & Intelligence Manager at Henkel.

Melis Gençtürk

Vice President

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Northwestern University | BA, Economics Minors in Mathematics & Business

Former Assistant Manager at Deloitte Corporate Finance

  • Participated in 20+ deals through buy-side & sell-side transaction advisory services in TMT and consumer business
  • Advised financial and strategic investors throughout the milestones of the M&A lifecycle from strategy to integration
  • Provided pre & post-deal services including business model preparation & review, KPI benchmarking, valuation and SPA negotiation.

Berke Uçkun

Analyst

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Bogazici University | BA, Business Administration 

Former Deals Consultant at PwC

  • Provided buy-side and sell-side due diligence assistance to target companies and private equity investors
  • Took charge of data analytics projects with complex calculations and came up with important KPIs for clients
  • Collaborated with management consulting teams to gather insights from large data

Interned at ÇimSA and Fibabanka.

Esra Demiroğlu

Analyst

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University of Warwick | MA, Global Sustainable Development

Former Assistant Manager, Corporate Finance and Derivatives Divisions, AK Investment

Offered comprehensive consultation for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), encompassing financial analysis, valuation, regulatory document drafting, and prospectus creation. Additionally, prepared investor presentations and marketing materials, manage client relationships, and provide crucial support for warrant issuance and expiration processes on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Gizem Karadeniz

Head of Talent

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Istanbul Bilgi University | BA, Psychology | MA, Organizational&Industrial Psychology

Former Engagement Manager, Recruitment Consultant at Benson & Partners Executive Search.

Focusing on finding high-level candidates to fill leadership positions within companies and organizations.

Focusing on delivering market-leading assessment solutions. Determining which candidates are the ideal skill set and mindset for company’s culture and building the framework for compensation and retention that attracts the right leaders.

Conducting talent mapping; evaluating a company’s existing talent gap, identifying high-potential candidates in their industry, and forecasting long-term hiring needs and subsequently cultivate organizational support for new roles over time.

Focusing on succession planning designing a strategy for identifying and developing future leaders for companies and creating a strategic plan to fill required positions with qualified and capable employees.

Berk Ahıshalıoğlu

Senior Associate

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Former Assistant Vice President at Turkey Development Fund

  • Responsible for investments, including identifying and 

Prior to that, Berk worked as a Senior Associate at Deloitte Financial Advisory

  • Worked on valuation & feasibility projections
  • Led sell-side and buy-side due diligence processes for both strategic & financial investors.

Gamze Canoğlu

Compliance Manager

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Led the internal audit and compliance unit of an asset management company conducting AML, KYC and fraud management. Started her career at Türkiye Ekonomi Bankası as an auditor, covering the bank’s branch audit and head office, and leading their compliance efforts.

Handan Yetişen

Financial Affairs & Operations Manager

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Napoli Degli Studi Federico II (Naples, Italy) | MSc Economics

She is a seasoned financial controller and budgeting manager with over 10 years of experience across diverse industries, including Richemont, Bizerba, Acino Pharma, Bestseller Group, and Luxottica Group/Sunglass Hut, Tommy Hilfiger-Calvin Klein/PVH Group and Assicurazioni Generali. Her expertise encompasses managing budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting processes, as well as coordinating month-end and year-end closings as well as preparing financial statements, sales reports, and analyses, while ensuring compliance with IFRS.

Seda Doğan

Executive Assistant

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Served as the Executive & Personal Assistant to the CEOs across various sectors including Baker Tilly Güreli, Acıbadem Sağlık ve Hayat Sigorta, Aras Holding and Çelebi Aviation.