Advisors
Investors
Baris Aksoy, Intel Capital
Baris Aksoy is a venture capitalist at Intel Capital focusing on consumer internet, social media, location based services, and advertising and ecommerce infrastructure investments.
Prior to joining Intel Capital, Baris worked at University Venture Fund, an early stage venture capital firm, where he was involved in equity investments in the internet and digital media sectors. Earlier, Baris held product management and development roles at Calix, an early stage startup developing next-generation access systems. During his tenure at Calix, he focused on digital media delivery systems and oversaw development of key features of the IPTV consumer experience. Earlier in his career, Baris started and grew the West Coast sales office for Alcatel’s semiconductor subsidiary.
Baris holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey.
Ruzgar Barisik, GTI Capital Group
Ruzgar Barisik is a partner based in New York. He has ten years of experience in principal investments, M&A and corporate development with media, aviation, and industrial companies.
Before joining GTI, Mr. Barisik was Director of Corporate Development at Key Components, Inc., an industrial LBO. At KCI he lead acquisitions and divestiture transactions, managed cost improvement initiatives and supported portfolio companies in making strategic and operational decisions. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Treasurer and Financial Analyst.
Mr. Barisik graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics and holds an MBA from the Columbia Business School.
Baris Karadogan, Fuse Capital
Baris has been a partner at Fuse Capital since 2006. Concurrently, Baris is CEO of HIP Digital Media, a leading promotional marketing technology company in Fuse Capital’s portfolio. At Fuse, he focuses on identifying investment opportunities in digital media with a principal emphasis on the Internet.
Prior to joining the firm, Baris worked for six years at U.S. Venture Partners, one of the leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital firms. Baris’ recent board seats/investments include: HIP Digital Media, Like.com, SpectraLinear, Minerva Networks, Redline Communications (LSE: REDL) and Aspendos Communications (acquired by Beceem Co). Before becoming a venture capitalist, Baris worked in both engineering and marketing at 3Com/U.S. Robotics, where he worked to develop the company’s networking and cable industry products. His efforts at U.S. Robotics resulted in a number of U.S. patents.
Baris holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lafayette College, where he graduated summa cum laude. He is a frequent speaker in Digital Media conferences, including Digital Hollywood, Dow Jones Conferences & Macworld. The best way to get to know Baris is to read his blog, “From Istanbul to Sand Hill Road” which focuses on high technology, venture capital, innovation and creativity.
Nuray George Ugras, Adams Capital Management
George joined Adams Capital Management in 1999 as a General Partner, from Apax Partners, a private equity firm in New York.
Prior to joining Apax Partners, George was a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Co. in New York, working closely with clients in the telecommunications and media industries, on strategic and operational issues for media and technology clients. He is a director of several private companies including BuzzLogic, Inc., NextIO, Inc., Luminescent Technologies, Inc., Optellios, Inc., Qspeed Semiconductor, Inc., and TouchdownTechnologies, Inc.
Entrepreneurs
Omer Algar, mediabistro.com
Omer is the General Manager of mediabistro.com, offering jobs, continuing education, community and news for anyone who creates or works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a content/creative industry. Prior to joining mediabistro.com in 2003, Omer worked for Logicat Inc, where he managed software development and operations of higher education recruitment and admissions tools provided by the College Board.
He grew up in lovely Istanbul, finished high school at Robert College, and then came to the U.S. to earn a B.A. degree in computer science and economics from Hamilton College.
Riza C. Berkan, hakia
Riza C. Berkan, Ph.D, is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of hakia. Dr. Berkan is a nuclear scientist by training with a specialization in artificial intelligence and fuzzy logic. He is the author of several articles in the area of reactor control and diagnostics, including the book Fuzzy Systems Design Principles published by IEEE in 1997. Between 1990 and 2000, Dr. Berkan worked for the US Government and handled multiple Lockheed Martin Energy Systems and Westinghouse projects. In 1997, Riza Berkan has received the Gold Award in Charleston International Film Festival in the documentary film category for his production “Southern Applachia.” Riza Berkan holds a B.S. in Physics from Hacettepe University, Turkey and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence.
Ahmet Can, innRoad
Ahmet Can is Senior Vice President of Operations at innRoad, an innovative Software as a Service start-up in the hospitality sector. Ahmet currently leads the Business Operations and Strategy team, which helps the company to innovate at scale by designing efficient business processes and solving strategic business problems. His team tackles projects such as resource allocation, operational strategy, internal operations improvements and organization design.
Prior to innRoad, Ahmet had senior finance, strategy and operational roles in global companies, including Phorm and Goldman Sachs. At Phorm, Ahmet was a board member and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. Before joining Phorm, Ahmet was Vice President of Online Retail at WhenU, where he was in charge of product development and business operations. He has also worked for two other start-ups as Director of International Marketing at Net2Phone and Orientaton.com.
Prior to the Internet sector, he was a successful investment banker at RBS Greenwich Capital and Goldman Sachs & Co. Ahmet holds a dual Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Middle East Languages and Cultures from Columbia University.
Basak Ozer
Basak is a seasoned entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in internet, mobile and consumer electronics space. Most recently she was at Quattro Wireless (acquired by Apple) and Tele Atlas (acquired by Tom Tom) as VP Product and MarketingShe helped Tele Atlas, a location based application and digital mapping company, achieve a global footprint, and drove a differentiated product roadmap which fueled the company’s tremendous growth. Tele Atlas became one of the first success stories within location-based space, powering internet, mobile, in-car navigation, and handheld GPS applications. At Quattro Wireless, Basak was part of a team which shaped the dynamics of the mobile advertising space in its infancy stages. She was instrumental in conceptualizing and launching a product suite which maximizes returns for both the publishers and advertisers.
Prior to joining the start-up world, Basak spent 8 years at Honeywell, where she ran regional and global P&L’s ranging up to $100M in annual revenue. She also took part in a venture team, evaluated technology firms within consumer electronics and automotive space against Honeywell’s product roadmap gaps and made acquisition decisions.
Basak has an Electrical Engineering degree from Istanbul Technical University and MBA from Michigan State.
Resources
Cigdem Acar
Admitted to the Bars of New York and New Jersey, Çiğdem A. Acar, Esq. is the Managing Attorney at the Acar Law Firm PLLC, where she counsels corporate clients and their employees in U.S. immigration, nationality and consular law within the context of foreign trade and investment. The Acar Law Firm also assists foreign investors in their business activities in the U.S. and works closely with experts, local Chambers of Commerce and other U.S. institutions to facilitate the establishment of new businesses in the U.S.
Ms. Acar received her Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law. She also has a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the New School for Social Research and a University Degree in Economics from New York University.
Ms. Acar serves on the board of the Turkish-American Business Forum and is a former member of the board of the American Turkish Society, Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce and the Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Acar is also the founder and President of a New York non-profit organization, Bridges of Hope Project, established to support educational projects in Turkey (www.BOHP.org).
Turgut Cankorel
Turgut Cankorel is a corporate lawyer focusing on cross-border business transactions. He has been working at Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York since 2006.
Turgut’s practice focuses on corporate and financing transactions, including private and public mergers & acquisitions, public offerings and private placements of securities, and matters relating to private equity and hedge funds. In addition, Turgut has experience in securities compliance, corporate governance and international trade regulation. A substantial portion of his experience is in the Turkish market. Prior to practicing law, he worked as an economist in the international trade field in Washington, D.C. and Geneva.
Turgut holds a B.A. with honors in economics from Harvard University, a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a Turkish law equivalency degree from Ankara University, Turkey. He is admitted to practice law in New York.
