As a non-governmental organisation with the authority in the public sphere to provide technology and innovation support to enable the private sector in Türkiye to scale up competitively in the international arena, TTGV has made its presence felt with its system-shaping touches at many critical turning points within the framework of the strategic technology development mission of Türkiye since its establishment. TTGV, which is well aware of the importance of climate technologies within the framework of the climate crisis, which is regarded as one of the biggest debates of the 21st century, and therefore has focused on climate technologies, encourages investment in emerging technologies in the world and in Türkiye through its demand-oriented programs, brings all stakeholders together professionally by creating application-based communities through its supply-oriented programs, and paves the way for the commercialisation of new technologies and the transition of Turkish industry to clean technologies through other programs. The ‘‘Pioneer Project Seed Program’’, which has emerged in 2018 as a result of the continuation of the Hit Thematic Development Program put forward by TTGV with its unique development methodology, combined with the ‘‘Valleys of Death’’ approach which has been adopted by TTGV and extending to climate technologies, specifically aims to ensure that startups and technology owners survive the Technology Valley of Death.
The key observation that TTGV has made concretely in the field since shifting its focus to climate technologies is that the development of climate technologies, in addition to the wide range of opportunities it offers, involves a number of structural challenges. Both the commercial and technical performance of these technological solutions are frequently questioned by market players for a number of reasons, such as the fact that the vast majority of these technologies are based on laboratory studies involving basic sciences, that many promising solutions at the laboratory scale rarely turn into a commercial solution, and that by their very nature they can rarely offer solutions that are alternatives to existing conventional technologies. In addition to all these, since the scaling anticipated by the market from these advanced technologies does not occur as fast as expected, the commercialisation process becomes even more problematic. The inability of scaling and knowledge accumulation to develop at the expected pace, and as the classical understanding of venture capital, which has been in place until today, is oriented towards software-based solutions rather than complex and challenging options, make it difficult for these technologies to find funding for development. As a result of all these findings, as TTGV, we observe that while there is a problem on the supply side of climate technologies, there are also some dilemmas on the demand side. We believe that the deadlocks related to the demand side can only be solved by infrastructure investors, operators and policy makers acting collectively. Precisely for this reason, TTGV planned a series of events aiming to bring all stakeholders together and create the big picture together, called this series of events REACT (Rethinking Valorisation of Climate Technologies) and launched this series on November 28, 2024 at Pera Palace in Istanbul.
With its newly designed Seed Program, TTGV aims to identify the technology owners working on deep technologies in Türkiye, with a special focus on climate technologies, and to collaborate with these technology owners and to value their technologies. On the other hand, it is observed that the Technology Valorisation approach has not yet been fully adopted in our country. In order for the valorisation perspective to be fully understood and utilised, issues such as better understanding of the main problems in the commercialisation of climate technologies, discussions with stakeholders on technology acquisition, and increasing knowledge within the framework of cause and effect relationship are of critical importance. With the REACT series of events, TTGV aims to ensure the valorisation of climate technologies in Türkiye by creating a dynamic networking and interactive discussion environment within the framework of these issues. At the launch event, where we hosted technology owners, entrepreneurs and entrepreneur candidates, deep technology investors, commercialised climate technology initiatives, technology transfer offices, policy makers, corporate companies and representatives from institutions working in the field of Technology Valorisation worldwide, the outputs shed light on how a road map can be drawn in the first stage.
In the launch of the REACT event, the concept of Valorisation was defined and the process of creating value by supporting knowledge with R&D and the transformation of this value into a new business line was discussed. Then, the Valorisation approach was evaluated within the framework of technology, innovation and climate technologies and the outlines of the discussion were drawn. Strategic approaches in the commercialisation of early-stage technologies from the perspective of corporate venture capital (CVC) representatives, first-hand experiences of corporations with technology owners were examined, and the same topic was then evaluated from the perspective of international public institutions and public capital in particular, and a discussion infrastructure was prepared for the funding of technology valorisation. In the discussion, which continued through international examples of how corporate companies incorporate external technologies into their organisations within the framework of valorisation, it was emphasised that investments in climate technologies cannot be limited to SaaS (Software as a Service) contrary to prevailing approach today, and it was underlined that infrastructure investments are also essential for the solution. Considering the nature of climate technologies, these infrastructure investments seem to pose a very high risk and to be highly costly, yet since fundamental problems cannot be solved without these investments, the approach of corporate companies to the perspective of technology procurement in this field affects all stakeholders. The importance of accurate modelling, digitalisation and digital twins, which form another important factor in the decision-making mechanism, has also been demonstrated in the discussions, and a holistic discussion perspective has been presented in the field of technology procurement. In the last part of the event, what can be done to survive the Technology Valley of Death was discussed with real life examples and the focal point was on how Türkiye can establish a public, institutional and strategic relationship with early stage technology owners and what it can do in valorisation studies.
While the ideas that emerged as a result of many valuable discussions on the launch day of the REACT series of events, which looks at the Technology Valorisation approach with a focus on climate technologies and aims to bring together different perspectives by creating a discussion environment on this issue, have been the gain of this event, it has been a matter of curiosity how the next event will be held. One of the things that was seen concretely on the TTGV side was that the technology valorisation approach, although it started with the framework of climate technologies, could be evaluated in a broader perspective and focused on Transformative Technologies. TTGV, as it has done since its establishment, will continue to provide technology, innovation and strategy solutions for the needs of the private sector in Türkiye, and within this framework, the focus on climate technologies will remain in finding a solution to a problem that extends from today to the future. In the next phase, REACT series of events will take a look at the Technology Valorisation approach from the perspective of Transformative Technologies, and will continue to develop, discuss and apply the know-how on climate technologies within this perspective.
