The world's largest aviation, space, and technology festival, Teknofest, continues to captivate audiences with its groundbreaking achievements.

Following its record-breaking success in Istanbul, which attracted 2.5 million visitors in April, Teknofest is set to make its mark in the capital Ankara on Oct. 1, 2023, before heading to the western province of Izmir.

The festival, known for celebrating science, technology and space exploration, is now evolving into a platform that fosters an entrepreneurial spirit and drives innovation, aiming to transform projects into viable startups.

Teknofest's mission is to unite millions of individuals under the vision of a "National Technology Move" to achieve complete technological independence for Türkiye.

In pursuit of this vision, the festival will witness the development of projects in 10 distinct categories that have the potential to evolve into entrepreneurial ventures. These categories include Education Technologies, Health and Wellness Technologies, Transportation and Mobility Technologies, Agricultural Technologies, Communication and Communication Technologies, Tourism Technologies, Environment, Energy and Climate Technologies, Space, Aviation and Defense Technologies, Disaster Management Technologies and Barrier-Free Living Technologies.

The Teknofest Enterprise competition invites high school, university and advanced-level teams that have participated in previous competitions held between 2018 and 2023 to showcase their innovative ideas.

Divided into two phases, Pre-Incubation and Acceleration, the competition aims to support both startups in early stages and teams that have progressed to product development and company establishment.

In the Pre-Incubation category, teams with startup ideas or those currently developing their products will be evaluated.

The primary requirement at this stage is the demonstration of progress without a specific need for venture establishment or incorporation. Moving to the Acceleration phase, teams that have successfully transformed their projects into tangible products and established companies associated with these ventures will present their innovations for evaluation.

Teknofest, with its commitment to integrating participants into the entrepreneurial ecosystem, strives to facilitate the commercialization of technology competition projects and their subsequent impact on society. In recognition of the potential of these projects to fuel the National Technology Move and transform into successful startups, a generous prize pool of over TL 7 million ($268,901) will be awarded to deserving participants.

Those interested in participating in the TEKNOFEST Enterprise competition are encouraged to submit their applications by the closing date of July 10.