Sixteen startups graduated from the 13th cohort of the Workup Entrepreneurship Program
Sixteen startups graduated from the 13th cohort of the Workup Entrepreneurship Program, an initiative supported by Türkiye İş Bankası and running since 2017, the bank announced.
More than 75 Workup alumni have raised over $60 million from various investors to date, while İş Bankası and its group companies have collaborated with more than 80 program participants.
The 13th cycle introduced a new structure by bringing together four tracks under one umbrella: the general Workup program, Workup Agri for agricultural technologies, Workup Gaming for game-tech startups and Workup4Future focused on sustainability and social impact. (By the way I have a story here about Proemtia, a startup founded by İş Bankası)
A Demo Day was held at İş Kuleleri with representatives from the business community, startup ecosystem, angel investors, venture capital firms and accelerator and incubation programs, alongside executives from İş Bankası and its subsidiaries. Ten graduating startups presented their scale-up journeys. The carbon-neutral event’s energy consumption was measured by Workup Agri alumnus 3pmetrics and offset with renewable-energy carbon credits.
“We grew older by eight years but became 18 years younger”
İş Bankası CEO Hakan Aran said during the opening speech that the bank had gained significant experience since launching Workup.
Aran added the bank’s funds allocated to entrepreneurship have surpassed $1 billion, citing initiatives ranging from İş Portföy and Tibaş Ventures in Amsterdam to Maxis and Maxitech in Silicon Valley. He noted that the market value of the bank’s startup investments — which appear on the balance sheet at around $425 million — now exceeds $1 billion.
Hakan Aran, General Manager at Türkiye İş Bankası
Novocycle completes $12 million round
The program, run by Yapay Zekâ Fabrikası, used Entrapeer’s AI agents and scoring algorithms for initial application evaluations. During the six-month term, three startups made their first sales, while others grew revenue more than threefold on average. Novocycle successfully closed a $12 million funding round.
Workup has received more than 17,000 applications since its launch. With the latest cohort, the number of graduates has reached 182, according to the bank. Maxis venture capital funds have invested $5 million into 18 Workup alumni to date, the bank noted.
Workup 13th Cohort Startups
• Rudiq: Fintech infrastructure for tokenizing and distributing traditional investment instruments.
• Rapidmule: SaaS loyalty platform turning user engagement into advocacy.
• Talkie Robie: AI-powered, game-based English speaking app for children aged 2–10.
• Orphex: AI-driven marketing orchestration offering analytics, reporting and campaign optimization.
• Wefarm: Agricultural platform converting idle fields into productive farmland.
• Next Big App: Studio building AI-powered mobile automation and applications to enhance sales and customer experience.
• Vignetim: Mobility logistics and fintech platform combining tolls, vignettes, eSIM and insurance services.
• Tekno Sürüm: AI-based herd-monitoring system analyzing cattle behavior via cameras.
• Deepin Data Market: Marketplace connecting data assets with AI assistants.
• Novocycle: Deep-tech startup enabling up to 96% material recovery from lithium-ion batteries using chemical-free dry recycling technology.
• Biomix: Developer of next-generation mixing solutions for biogas and wastewater treatment plants.
• Cyclothe: Circular-economy startup digitizing textile waste collection and sorting.
• Fikogya: Water-tech company offering AI-driven autonomous IoT solutions for chemical-free, cost-efficient water ecosystem management.
• Bomensoft: Startup integrating AI into existing systems to optimize operational processes.
• NepTune: Gamified AI-powered mobile app teaching users to play musical instruments.
• Cutehill Games: Developer of globally appealing, visually engaging mobile games.
