The Innovation Center Akbank LAB, which coordinates Akbank's innovation-focused efforts, has added a new one to its pioneering and innovative work. Akbank has become the first financial partner of Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley-based investor in technology startups such as PayPal and Dropbox, in the Turkish ecosystem.
Established in 2016 as Akbank's innovation center and working to implement innovative solutions, Akbank LAB has collaborated with Plug and Play, the largest global innovation platform for startups and companies.
As the first financial partner of the ecosystem created by Plug and Play, which started its operations in Turkey as of 2021, Akbank aims to create project, cooperation and investment opportunities in the field by accelerating the exchange of knowledge and experience in the ecosystem with this agreement.
Akbank Digital Design and Innovation Department Head Burcu Küçükünal said that Akbank has an important place in the innovation ecosystem and that they will have the opportunity to carry it globally with the agreement they made with Plug and Play. states. After evaluating and prioritizing 50,000+ startups in the Plug and Play network in line with their focus areas, he states that they want to develop innovative products and services with these initiatives.
“We want to carry out works that will make a global impact with Plug and Play”
Küçükünal said, “We believe that Plug and Play, which manages 100+ acceleration programs in 45 different locations, 18 different verticals, and has 500+ corporate companies in its ecosystem, is the right business partner to contribute to this vision. With the contributions of important stakeholders such as Plug and Play and Akbank LAB, which guides our innovation journey, we will continue to offer the financial system of the future to our customers today by assimilating changing customer expectations and technologies.”
“Akbank is among the important financial partners of Plug and Play”
Stating that they have been working on this cooperation for a long time, Plug and Play Turkey and EMEA Regional Director Lale Can Gözübüyük emphasizes that Akbank, which has pioneered and innovative services in the finance sector, is a very valuable partner for the Plug and Play ecosystem. Lale Can Gözübüyük said, "I believe that many innovative and resounding success stories will emerge from the cooperation of Plug and Play, the world's largest innovation platform."
