About Us

Tüpraş is Turkey's largest industrial enterprise, Europe's seventh largest refinery, and the 30^th largest globally. Tüpraş Ventures was established at the end of 2022 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tüpraş. Tüpraş Ventures invests in, partners with, and supports startups in the field of energy transition solutions and solutions that contribute to sustainable production. Our primary geographic focus areas are North America and Europe. Most direct investments are in companies at the early growth stage with products on the market or close to launch.

Tüpraş established an Innovation Department in early 2017 and has engaged with startups ever since.

We accelerate the startups' development through

Partnerships

Technical and sector expertise

International R&D Projects

Startup Programs

Focus Areas

ENERGY TRANSITION

Biofuels and Low Carbon Fuels
- Special Emphasis on SAF, E-Fuels, and Synthetic Biofuels
- Feedstocks for Biofuel and Low Carbon Fuel Production
Renewable Power
Energy Storage
Green and Low Carbon Hydrogen
Carbon Capture and Utilization

SUSTAINABILITY

Carbon Management
- Carbon and Emissions Monitoring

Waste and Water Management
- Reducing Operational Waste and Wastewater
- Innovative and Efficient Treatment and Recycling of Waste and Water
- Waste Heat Recovery

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Energy Efficiency
Asset Management Optimization
Enabling Technologies for Operational Excellence
- Robotic Solutions
- Image Processing, Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR)
- Industrial Internet of Things (IoT)
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- Refinery-Wide Optimization and Simulation

Our Team

Investment Committee

Responsible for signing off investment decisions

İBRAHİM YELMENOĞLU

CEO

Doğan KORKMAZ

CFO

Murat ŞİMŞEK

Assistant General Manager

Levent ZAĞRA

Assistant General Manager

FUNDA
ÇETİN

Head of Strategy, Sustainability, Innovation and Venture Capital

Startup Evaluation Committee

Responsible for confirming no-show-stopper objections and screening the startups regarding focus areas, strategic fit, and overall technical and commercial quality.

FUNDA ÇETİN

Head of Strategy, Sustainability, Innovation and Venture Capital

Koray Ülger

Head of R&D

Emre ÇELEBİ

Head of Operational Reliability

ÖZGÜR ÇETİN

Head of Technical Services

Haldun SELİK

Head of IT

Arda Yıldırım

İzmit Refinery Manager

Volkan DEMİRTAŞ

İzmir Refinery Manager

Tolga Temur

Kırıkkale Refinery Manager

Ahmet Cemil Karaoğuz

Batman Refinery Manager

INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

Emerald is a globally recognized venture capital firm building a sustainable future at the crossroads of industry and technology. Tüpraş has been an investor in the Emerald Industrial Innovation Fund since 2020.

Verdagy is innovating water electrolysis technology for the large-scale production of green hydrogen.

AIS Field offers innovative robotic inspection services, complemented by AI-driven software solutions. The team's goal is to address intricate and demanding inspection requirements within industrial field conditions.

Ionomr develops and markets ion-exchange membrane and polymer solutions for clean technology solutions including fuel cells, hydrogen production, and a range of energy storage applications.

Electrified Thermal is decarbonizing industrial heat by converting renewable energy into an 1800°C heat source through electrified fire bricks.

Aqualung’s membrane technology offers absorbent-free, highly compact, and scalable carbon capture system for industrial flue gas.

Syzygy Plasmonics uses light-powered reactors to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), hydrogen, and other chemicals at lower cost and emissions, replacing traditional combustion processes.