METU Teknokent Innovation and Commercialization Team serves as one of the accelerator sites in Türkiye for NATO DIANA, NATO’s dual-use technology acceleration program. NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) aims to support advanced technology startups with both civilian and defense applications while strengthening collaboration among innovation ecosystems across NATO allied countries.
Within the scope of the program, startups operating in strategic fields such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced communication technologies, energy solutions, biotechnology, space technologies, and critical infrastructure security are provided with acceleration support. METU TEKNOKENT offers comprehensive support to NATO DIANA innovators in areas including mentorship, business development, commercialization, investor access, and integration into the defense industry ecosystem.
Throughout the NATO DIANA Program, startups gain access to technical mentors, industry experts, investors, public institutions, and defense industry representatives, while also benefiting from test centers and international collaboration networks. In addition to enhancing technological capabilities, the program aims to strengthen startups’ access to global markets and support their international scaling potential.
With its strong entrepreneurship infrastructure, extensive technology transfer experience, and close collaborations within the defense industry ecosystem, METU TEKNOKENT provides NATO DIANA innovators with a strategic environment for growth and business development in Türkiye.
Launched in 2024 by ODTÜ Teknokent Innovation and Commercialization Team as Türkiye’s first dual-use focused acceleration program, the DUALSPARK Dual-Use Accelerator is designed to support the development and commercialization of dual-use technologies with potential applications in both defense and civilian sectors. The program aims to connect innovative technology startups with the defense industry ecosystem while supporting their growth and scalability in national and international markets.
Within the scope of DUALSPARK, startups receive training and mentorship in areas such as business development, technology validation, investment readiness, strategic positioning, defense industry dynamics, and public-private collaborations. The program also facilitates direct connections between startups, defense industry companies, public institutions, investors, and international stakeholders.
Focusing particularly on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing technologies, communication systems, cybersecurity, and deep-tech solutions, DUALSPARK supports startups in adapting their technologies for both commercial and strategic use cases. Through intensive mentorship, training sessions, and ecosystem access provided throughout the program, startups gain opportunities to mature their products, expand customer access, and prepare for investment processes.
DUALSPARK Program aims to contribute to the advancement of dual-use technology entrepreneurship in Türkiye and to support innovative startups in achieving a stronger position within the global defense and technology ecosystems.
Conducted by ODTÜ Teknokent Innovation and Commercialization Team in partnership with TEB Girişim Bankacılığı, Girişim Merkezi, and Garaj X TEKMER, U4VENTURE Program is a comprehensive startup acceleration program designed to support the transformation of technology and innovation-driven business ideas into sustainable business models. The program aims to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the training, mentorship, and business development support they need throughout their journey, from the idea stage to investment and commercialization processes.
Within the scope of U4VENTURE, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to work with expert mentors and industry professionals in critical areas such as business model development, customer validation, market analysis, financial planning, investor pitch preparation, intellectual property strategies, and commercialization processes. The program also strengthens ecosystem connections by bringing startups together with investors, industry representatives, and national/international business networks.
Focusing particularly on technology-based and innovative business ideas, U4VENTURE aims to help startups become scalable not only technically, but also strategically, operationally, and commercially. Through intensive training sessions and one-on-one mentorship provided throughout the program, startups make significant progress in validating their ideas, improving product-market fit, and preparing for investment processes.
U4VENTURE Program supports entrepreneurs who seek to build a strong foundation for their entrepreneurial journey by providing knowledge, experience, networking opportunities, and visibility to help them achieve sustainable growth and global competitiveness.
The LabsOut Program, run by METU TEKNOKENT and ODTÜ TTO, is an entrepreneurship program that supports the transformation of academic knowledge into innovative and commercializable ventures. The program specifically aims to convert the outcomes of scientific research developed at universities into economic value, offering a comprehensive support mechanism for academics, researchers, and technology-focused aspiring entrepreneurs.
With a particular focus on deep tech, advanced engineering, and high-value-added technologies, LabsOut aims to move academic research out of the laboratory environment and transform it into sustainable startups capable of reaching the market. Throughout the program, academics will be introduced to the entrepreneurship ecosystem, helping them adopt a market-oriented perspective on their research.
Within the scope of this program; with the strategy “Develop First, Commercialize Then”, research results at the university are matched with the start-ups in the relevant sectors and the collaborations are established within the “win-win” framework.
Co2-Tech program was launched in the first half of 2016 and has become one of the most important programs used by ODTU TTO as university inventions are early-stage technologies and they may not be in the investors’ field of interest due to the "high risk". Thanks to the program, the technology development process can be started before the commercialization of the inventions and early-stage inventions can be commercialized by using supports provided by national/international funds.
Through the “ProBoost Acceleration Program” developed within the scope of university-industry collaboration; academicians and companies are brought together and in terms of utilizing the different grant programs under the project to be developed and necessary support is provided by ODTU TTO.
Moreover, according to the demands of the industry, meetings are arranged with the relevant academicians who are experts in their field or potential project partners from the industry are analyzed according to the academician’s field of study.
PHDP (Patent Acceleration Support Program) has been developed to support the competitive advantage in the market for the companies at ODTU Technopolis. Preparation of preliminary research and application documents of the inventions/designs of the companies, making patent/design applications, following the research report processes and paying the attorney fees are the titles under the program. The program which is started in 2018 continued in 2019 too.