Who Are We

We are a professional impact investment fund that aims to create change through a wide network that is based on a strong collaboration and trust within.

We invest in innovative impact startups, because we want to contribute to restoring the balance between nature and society. We believe that innovation plays a crucial role in rebalancing the world we live in and startups are the main driver of innovation.

Sina AFRA

Aside from Markafoni and Tiko.es, Sina Afra, the member and founder of the Fund's Investment Committee, has signed in 20 company establishments, 9 exits, around 40 angel investments, and a total investment exit amount of 1.1 billion USD.

Faruk ECZACIBAŞI

The Fund's Investment Committee member and founder Faruk Eczacıbaşı has made exits and supports hundreds of startups with the Turkish Informatics Foundation and the Digital Turkey Platform, of which he is the chairman as well as the Eczacıbaşı Holding Vice Chairman of the Board.

 

The Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation continues its activities with the vision of accelerating Turkey's transformation towards being a developed country through entrepreneurship. The mission of this foundation is to create and spread entrepreneurship in Turkey. The Foundation carries out many impact-oriented studies with the private sector, public sector, NGOs and other partners and stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Every year, it reaches 6 million people in total with all its projects and spreads entrepreneurship inspiration. Founded in 2014, 100 technology-based startups have been established within the foundation until this year. In addition, it continues to receive applications with more than 1000 business ideas every year.

 

It is a non-governmental organization headquartered in Istanbul and works with the main aim of "transforming Turkey into an information society". Founded on April 14, 1995 by 114 institutions and 178 members of these institutions, TBV, which has over 400 members as of today. It aims to contribute to the creation of the necessary infrastructure for Turkey's transformation into an information society, to carry out scientific research and development activities, to examine the effects of new technologies on social and economic life, to produce projects with qualified and respected stakeholders and to ensure their implementation.

Strategic Fund Management

Founder One, with its professional team led by Ali Şahin and Cem Leon Menase, creates a structure that manages the selection of impact investments, investment process, portfolio management, investor relations, impact measurement, impact reporting and all other processes within the scope of a strategic fund management, so it meets the expectations and demands of both entrepreneurs and investors in this setting.

Fund Management

Professional Portfolio Management

Founder One excels in portfolio management through a high-conviction, impact-first approach that combines entrepreneurial insight, deep sector focus, and disciplined execution. Our model is designed to identify transformative founders early, support them with catalytic capital, and actively guide them toward scale and measurable impact.

Portfolio management at Founder One is not passive. We take an active role — from shaping governance and strategy to fostering international expansion and future financing. Our commitment extends beyond returns; we embed long-term resilience and mission alignment into each portfolio company.

What sets us apart is our ability to bridge ecosystems — connecting overlooked markets with institutional capital, and pairing local insight with global standards. Our approach delivers more than performance — it builds a portfolio that is coherent, purpose-driven, and designed to lead the next generation of impact innovation.