Board of Directors

All investors are represented on the Board of Directors, which has the responsibility for the operational administration of iVCi. The members of the Board are:

Bayram Mecit
Bayram Mecit is Vice President of the Small and Medium Industry Development Organisation (KOSGEB). Previously he held several different managerial positions within this same organisation, starting as junior expert back in 1993. Mr. Mecit is an active member of several bodies, including OECD’s SMEs and Entrepreneurship Working Group and Member of the Board of KOBI AS. Mr. Mecit is the current Chairman of the Board of iVCi.

Mr. Mecit holds and MBA from Selçuk University, Konya and a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from the Middle East Technical University.

S.Tuna Şahin
S.Tuna Şahin is the Vice President of KOSGEB, where he has been working since 2000. In parallel, he is also the Deputy Head of the Board of Directors of Credit Guarantee Fund. Prior to joining KOSGEB, he held various positions within TSE (Turkish Standards Institutions), a public institution responsible for quality, system and product certification, as well as standards preparation.

Mr. Şahin has studied at the TED Ankara College and at the METU Faculty of Engineering, in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. He also holds several qualifications from the International Organisation of Standardization.

Refik Üreyen
Refik Üreyen has been TTGV representative in Istanbul since 2003 and currently represents TTGV on the Board of Directors of several subsidiary companies. Mr. Üreyen started his career in 1963 as a Mechanical Engineer in the GE manufacturing plant in Turkey. After thirteen years being in GE, he resigned and during the next eleven years he started three new companies on electrical motors and refrigerators and steel sheet products as managing partner. Then, he joined Arçelik – the biggest producer of white goods and consumer durables in Turkey - in 1987 with a mission to establish a new R&D Centre. During 1991-1999 period he assumed the responsibility to manage Arçelik R&D Center. Until his retirement in 2001, his position in Arçelik was that of technology coordinator working on assesment and planning technologies and setting related policies for the company.

Mr. Üreyen is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Istanbul Technical University.

John Holloway
John Holloway is the Director of Investments at EIF. He has overall responsibility to develop Venture Capital Funds and Portfolio Guarantee operations in support of SMEs in the European Union and Accession countries. Prior to this position, he spent over 20 years in a number of Lending and Credit Departments of the European Investment Bank, both in Luxembourg and Rome. Mr. Holloway started his career in 1976 at the National Westminster Bank, where he spent four years in the Credit Department of the International Division in London.

Maria Leander
Maria Leander is the Secretary of EIF. She also has been Chief Legal Counsel of EIF since 1997. Prior to joining EIF, she was lawyer at Mannheimer Swartling Advokat AB, one of the leading business law firms in the Nordic region. Mrs. Leander is a member of EVCA Tax and Legal Committee. She also participated in various expert groups in the European Commission, such as the Alternative Investment Expert Group, the Expert Group on Removing Obstacles to Cross Border Investments by Venture Capital Funds and the Expert Group on Removing Tax Obstacles to Cross Border Venture Capital Investments.

A Swedish national, Mrs. Leander obtained a Master of Laws (LL. M.) in 1987 from the University of Lund, Sweden, and was admitted to the Swedish Bar in 1992.

Hubert Cottogni
Hubert Cottogni is the Head of the Regional Business Development team. He is responsible for developing and implementing FoF and JEREMIE strategy throughout Europe. Prior to this position, he was a Director of Telekom Austria in Vienna, where he spent over 6 years in the Strategy and Business Development & Mergers and Acquisitions department. He also spent more than 12 years working as Senior Banker in institutions like the EIB or CreditAnstalt.

Mr. Cottogni holds a degree in Business and Administration from the University of Innsbruck. He also holds a MBA from the University of Innsbruck as well as an executive degree from INSEAD.

Hakan Tokaç
Hakan Tokaç is Deputy General Director of Public Finance at the Turkish Treasury and Board Member at the state-owned Development Bank of Turkey (TKB). He has 15 years experience in the Turkish Government, having served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Undersecretariat of Customs and the Treasury.

Mr. Tokaç has two Master of Science degrees, one in Finance and the other in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He holds a BA in Public Finance from Ankara University.

Advisory Board

All investors are represented on the Advisory Board, which has the responsibility of ensuring compliance by EIF and the Investment Committee with the fund’s objectives and strategy. The Advisory Board also looks into any conflict of interest brought forward by EIF or any other relevant party.