News from ITU SEED
At ITU ARI Teknokent, R&D entrepreneurs of "SEED" are giving energy to the technological developments. 3 young entrepreneurs who graduated from ITU captured the opportunity ro convert their dreams and ideas into an energizing technology company by joining the ITU SEED Contest in 2012, they succeeded to be famous with the wireless charging system for mobile phones they developed. Engineer entrepreneurs from ITU were accepted to join the Wireless Power Consortium - WPC- as the one and only Turkish company operating in this field with Elecreate they developed in ITU ARI Teknokent. Aydın Dikkulak, Efe Turhan ve Ferit Güler are developing wireless charging systems to be used widely in social venues like coffee shops and restaurants, they also started to implement "intelligent" automated lighting systems which provide significant energy savings under the brand named "CP-Lİght".
The founders of Elecreate are taking the lead with almost the speed of light in their entrepreneurial adventure began with ITU SEED. One partner is a graduate student, the second partner is a doctorate student, the third partner is completing his graduate program to start his doctorate program, their company consists of 7 people, 6 of which are engineers, all working for the new technologies at a rattling pace. They founded their company Elecreate with 100 thousand TL Techno Entrepreneurship Capital they received from the Ministry of Industry, and thanks to their success in the ITU SEED Contest, they had the opportunity to work in a free office space for their first year at ITU ARI Teknokent Building ARI4. When they succeeded to manage on their own they moved to ITU ARI6 Building and became one of the first 11 companies of the newly established ITU ARI Energy Teknokent.
A young Turkish company among the giants of the world
"Our first goal regarding wireless energy transfer was to charge mobile phones wirelessly. Right now we are the one and only Turkish member of an international consortium that holds more than 200 companies in the world including world giants like Samsung, LG, Motorola and Google" says the partners of Elecreate and explain their growth strategy as follows:
"By producing a wireless charging system in a standard consistent with the global technology leaders, we tried to build customized products to be used in any place that people need to use charging daily like outdoor restaurants, coffee shops, airports and hospitals. We installed our end products in certain venues by using different business models. We had very positive feedback and we used those feedbacks to fırther develop our product. Nowadays our second version is on the way to be installed in the relevant venues. We have 100-150 continuing venue contracts regarding this."
The wireless charging system of Elecreate consists of a device that is put on a table and in half the size of a small service pad. Leaving the mobile phone - compatible with the system - over the device is enough for the charging to begin. Although technical standards defined by WPC are not yet in widely use, most global device manufacturers ensured their high segmented mobile models comply with those standards. A large part of the standard supporting phones are in sales in Turkey, some manufacturers may offer that feature to the consumers as an option of back cover. Consumer awareness must be increased to enable wide spread use. Also, for the models that don't support the standard, a keyring size apparatus can be retrieved from the servers in the venue and the charg,ng system can be used through the USB connection. System can charge the phones at the speed of the a normal adapter. System does not transfer any energy unless there is a device put over it, energy transfer stops when another object enters between the device and the phone. When the phone reaches at 100% charged level, the system shuts itself down, thus spends less energy than the long term chargings. System can provide energy in two different options: devices fixed on the tables and special adapter that Elecreate has the Beneficial Model rights. Elecreate aims to convert their TUBITAK project on transferring energy from longer distances to multiple phones into product within 1 year.
It is still early for Electrical Cars...
When charging is mentioned, obviously we think about the most popular technology of the recent years: electrical cars. The founders of the Elecreate who made studies on charging units for electrical cars say: "There are on-going studies in Germany and USA regrading wireless charging of the vehicles. We are considering to enter this sector in the coming period. But we also think that is a little early now, both from our point of view and the sector's point of view".
Elecreate founders, operating in their new office at ITU ARI Enerji Teknokent since January 2014, even though they think it is early to work in the field of electrical cars, they found different fields of energy to their efforts into in the meantime. Elecreate partners prioritize the export potential in new investment areas and take solid steps in this direction by developing a wireless lighting automation system that provides energy efficiency under the CP-Light brand. In places with high lighting energy consumption requirement like factories, shopping malls and airports, CP-Light Lighting Automation system provides a controlled lighting that reduces the requirements of the operators with timed tasks. Thus, energy costs of the unnecessary lighting units can be taken under control and better managed.
They will install the Intelligent Lighting Automation System in Saudi Arabia at first...
Elecreate partners says that they will install the CP-Light branded Intelligent Lighting Automation System in a factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and they will collaborate with a big armature manufacturer with regards to the production of the armatures used in the system.
CP-Light Lighting Automation System, believing that 35-40% of the electrical consumption of industry and shopping malls are due to lighting needs, is based on the principle "using the energy at the right time and in the right place". Thus, it aims to provide energy savings by lighting the right place at the right time without compromising lighting. For example, it forecasts an investment model based on saving to pay itself within a short period like 2 years with scenarios like during daylight time front armatures can be turned off and only back armatures in darkness to stay on etc. In the first implementation of the system in the factory built on a land of 10 thousand square meters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, there will be 450-500 armatures will be installed. The factory produces electrical components and that explains their interest and sensitivity in the automation system.
Electrate continues to work in the field of Lighting Automation Systems for industry with a strong belief, company partners says they are open to the possibility of "intelligent home systems" in the future can be an important market. Elecreate partners say that after the EU 15.193 standard became legislative in Turkey, buildings will be classified in terms of energy like white goods, the legislation will start covering the buildings dated in the past from the year 2017 onwards and that will increase the awareness and demand in Turkey.
Elecreate seems to have the ability to finance their own projects in such a short time. However the young partners of the company do not rule out new partnership opportunities to enable their entry into foreign markets and help them achieve their 100 million Euro revenue target. They are showing the potential of new successes in the energy sector with their high energy, under the roof of ITU and ITU ARI Teknokent for all the local and international investors...