Awards Given for Initiatives to Combat Covid-19

Petrol Ofisi CEO Selim Şiper: "We Answered the Call to Action for COVID-19 with Full Support"

Turkey's largest entrepreneurship event Big Bang 2020 came to an end with a spectacular ceremony featuring many firsts. Due to the pandemic, thousands of participants followed the event online, with the TOP20 finalists presenting their projects on a specially prepared virtual stage and receiving their awards. At the event hosting Turkey's and the world's rising startups, Petrol Ofisi also awarded 11 startups focused on combating COVID-19 in cooperation with İTÜ ARI Teknokent. Within the scope of the #FightCOVID19 call, Petrol Ofisi, which provided mentoring and all kinds of financial and moral support to entrepreneurs bringing important solutions to fight the pandemic, announced the winning projects through CEO Selim Şiper at the event. Petrol Ofisi CEO Selim Şiper said, "For the past 79 years, we have taken upon ourselves the mission of providing energy for our country and people's social and economic development. We saw the #FightCOVID call by İTÜ Çekirdek aimed at entrepreneurs as a duty and immediately responded with full support. Of the 257 projects submitted in response to this call, 125 passed the preliminary screening. Following the evaluation, 46 projects advanced to the finals. As a jury, we reviewed each one of them carefully, discussed and deliberated, and then decided to support 11 projects. Along with all the financial resources entrepreneurs needed, we also took on roles wherever we could contribute, such as mentoring and jury membership," he said. The 9th Big Bang Start-up Challenge, held by İTÜ Çekirdek Incubation Center, which ranks among the world's top 5 university entrepreneurship centers and determines the best startups every year, concluded with a spectacular visual event. Due to the pandemic, Big Bang 2020 final event was held online for the first time this year, taking place on a virtual stage that began with a spectacular dance performance choreographed by renowned artist Beyhan Murphy. At this Turkey's largest entrepreneurship event hosted by journalist and author Serdar Kuzuloğlu, finalists presented their projects on the virtual stage, then explained their projects via the Blue Microphone project prepared by artist Ceyhun Yılmaz and requested support. At the event hosting Turkey's and the world's rising startups, participants also took a virtual tour of 87 technology and innovation-focused startup booths, experiencing a unique online experience. The Big Bang Start-up Challenge award ceremony, which this year set out with the motto 'Rise Together', also announced that entrepreneurs received over TRY 54 million in funding.

Major Support from Petrol Ofisi to Young Entrepreneurs

Petrol Ofisi also took the stage at the event hosting Turkey's and the world's rising startups. Due to the global pandemic affecting humanity, Petrol Ofisi, in partnership with İTÜ ARI Teknokent, has met the face shield, intubation cabin and UV Box-Environmental Sterilization Equipment needs of 500 healthcare institutions in 81 provinces to date, and also supports projects offering important solutions to combat COVID-19. In this context, it brought 11 projects to the stage and awarded them—projects that make important contributions to human health, social and business life, as well as pandemic management, through advanced technology. At the awards ceremony of the event marked by great excitement, Petrol Ofisi CEO Selim Şiper, connecting online to the stage, announced the selected projects one by one. Noting that they were delighted to award startups demonstrating Turkey's technology and creativity potential, Selim Şiper said, "Turkey's largest entrepreneurship event Big Bang is being held online for the first time this year, and I hope this will be the last Big Bang held online. As humanity, unfortunately we are experiencing days that no one could have foreseen this year."

"We Eagerly Answered İTÜ Çekirdek's FightCOVID Call"

Reminding that Petrol Ofisi was founded in 1941 as a company created from this nation's own resources to meet this country's fuel needs, Selim Şiper continued: "We strive to act with awareness of this responsibility. Providing energy for this country and society's social and economic development forms one of the cornerstones of our mission. As Petrol Ofisi, we aimed for our contributions to be long-lasting. To this end, we saw the call from İTÜ Çekirdek to entrepreneurs regarding COVID-19 mitigation as a duty and immediately responded with full support. Of the 257 projects that came to us, 125 passed the preliminary screening. The 46 projects that advanced to the finals were then discussed and deliberated by a jury consisting of myself, my colleagues, and respected academics and scientists from İTÜ Çekirdek. We decided to support 11 startups that we believe will contribute to the future of our country and people."

"We Provide Mentoring Support Along with Financial Support"

Emphasizing that they provided all the financial and moral resources the supported entrepreneurs needed and requested, Selim Şiper stated: "Whatever they asked for, whatever they needed, we provided it. Along with financial support, our colleagues also provided and continue to provide business and marketing mentoring support not only to the projects we selected but also to some other projects." He added this clarification. In his speech, Selim Şiper also noted that as Petrol Ofisi they refrained from publicizing the support they provided in terms of social solidarity: "Our philosophy here is that the giver should not be arrogant, nor should the recipient be ashamed. For this reason, we have not used the contributions we have made to date as figures in any announcement or public relations tool. We made an effort to keep communication at a level of 'setting an example.' Today, I am delighted and proud to announce these startups, which I believe are very beneficial projects," he said as he presented the projects.

The Projects Supported by Petrol Ofisi are as Follows:

1. Rapid diagnostic kit from mucosa taken from mouth and nose: Micronetech
2. Surface and air disinfection robot: Ritter
3. Diagnostic kit that shortens test time and achieves high accuracy: Gene-us
4. Fast and advanced testing device: Axolot
5. Supplies corona antigen to diagnostic kit companies: Pathonex
6. Remote-accessible, multi-function, fast and automatic thermometer for crowded places: Evana
7. Measures temperature and monitors mask-wearing: Mikrop Robotics
8. Lifetime reusable electronic mask: Coronity
9. Oxygen flow meter monitoring and tracking device used in COVID treatment: Estare Tech
10. Device for easy and quick disinfection of money in ATMs: Money Shower
11. Testing device that detects infection from human breath at an early stage: Avokadio