
Meet the Team
Ventures & Beyond distinguishes from other firms in terms of having a broad global & local network; and with its highly skilled and experienced team consisting of the founders and an advisory committee.
Scroll down to learn more about team members: ​
Founders
Ventures & Beyond was founded by Sedat and Sena both coming from engineering and entrepreneurial backgrounds within academia and industry. Their global mindset and passion for entrepreneurship and its surrounding ecosystem encouraged them to establish this company.

Sedat Avsar
Sedat has both deep-tech startup management and venture capital establishment & management experience. He holds a BSc degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering; and a MSc degree in Industrial Management from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In addition, he took Venture Finance education from Said Business School, Oxford University. He has conducted research studies on VC-backed exits. He is one of the co-founders of Techventure VC. He has experience in scouting, analyzing and evaluating startups, analyzing startup valuation, participating in deep dive sessions, making investment decisions, developing investment strategies, building relationships and reputation in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He also serves as mentor and jury member at universities, incubation centers and various platforms.

Sena Eren Avsar
Sena holds a BSc degree in Chemical & Biological Engineering; and a MSc degree in Bioentrepreneurship from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. She is one of the co-founders of Techventure VC, a micro venture capital firm. She has experience in scouting, analyzing and evaluating startups, and building relationships in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Advisory Committee
The advisory committee consists of highly experienced individuals whom bring unique knowledge and skills from their fields of expertise. This committee is a part of Ventures & Beyond's value proposition and their valuable contribution to the company and the ecosystem is beyond doubt.

Mustafa M. Alaca
Chairman at Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Turkey,
Mustafa M. Alaca was born in 1966 in Istanbul. After Saint Michel French High School, he graduated from Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Administrative and Economic Sciences, Department of Business Administration, in 1989. In 1997, he joined the "Advanced Management Program" at Insead. He worked in the sales department of NCR Bilgi İşlem Sistemleri A.Ş. He continued his career at Cankor Otomotiv as responsible for Customer and License Relations. He was appointed as the General Manager of the company in 1997. After the transfer of all shares to Autoliv in 1999, Mustafa M. Alaca, elected to the Board of Directors within the Group, received the title of "Managing Director." In addition to his duty as Autoliv Turkey President, he was appointed as "Global Seat Belt Fabric Operation Coordinator" of Autoliv Group in 2007. In March 2011, he left the Autoliv Group and was appointed as the Country Manager of Magneti Marelli, Fiat Group's Sub-Industry Group. In this process, he took place as a Board Member, where Marelli Group was a shareholder in Turkey, Magneti Marelli Mako, Plastiform, SCM companies, and Matay, a partner with Orhan Holding. He joined Autoliv Group again in 2013 and continued as "Global Vice President of Airbag and Textile Product Family" until his retirement (December 2021). During this period, he undertook the responsibility of 35 production centers in 16 countries and a business volume of approximately 6 Billion USD. Alaca, elected to the Board of Directors of Çanakkale Seramik A.Ş. in July 2016 and is still a board member, continues to serve as an Advisory Board Member of 11 Sight companies based in the USA and Strategic Advisor of Ünsped Customs Consultancy. He is Chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce Board and has been on the Board of Directors since 2013. Mustafa M. Alaca's many researches, articles, and interviews in classical music were also published in Hürriyet Newspaper and Hürriyet Gösteri Art magazine. Mustafa M. Alaca, who speaks English and French, is married and has two children.

A. Levent Apaydın
International Trade, Consultancy, B2B Travel Tech Former Chairman at Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Turkey
A. Levent Apaydın graduated from Galatasaray High School and received his undergraduate degree from Marmara University, Faculty of Business Administration, and completed his higher education with a joint diploma from Université Paris Dauphine & Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. He started his career in tourism in 1994 and continued in 2002 with the General Manager of a tour operator based in Antwerp, Belgium; during this period, he incorporated a Belgian rival company and contributed to the growth of the institution he was managing. Returning to Turkey in 2008 and working at Sanovel İlaç – Sanset Gıda, which operates in the field of pharmaceuticals and FMCG, he gained different sectoral experience during this period. Between 2010 and 2012, he visited approximately 80 countries by accompanying official delegations such as TOBB, DEİK, Ministry of Economy and similar on overseas trips. In 2017, he became an investor in a software company operating in the field of corporate travel at Dokuz Eylül University Technopark and served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Between 2018-2021, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish - Belgium - Luxembourg Trade Association, and as of 2021, he started to be a member of the High Advisory Board of the same association. In 2019, he was elected as a Member of the Board of Directors representing Turkey in the Belgium - Luxembourg Federation of Chambers of Commerce. He started teaching Information Technologies at Boğaziçi University in the 2019 - 2020 academic term, and has also spoken at many international conferences such as the Boğaziçi Summit. Having established his own company in 2012, he has provided independent consultancy services for the entry of many international brands in the field of Tourism Technologies and Corporate Travel into the Turkish market, as well as activities such as International Trade, Defense Industry, Tourism Technologies, M&A consultancy, strategic market development of medical devices. He speaks fluent French, English and intermediate Dutch and Spanish.

H. Gürbüz Sarı
Managing Partner SARILEGAL Consultancy
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H. Gürbüz Sarı is a lawyer and legal consultant with a strong background in technology and software. He graduated from Galatasaray University Faculty of Law in 2000 and completed his master's degree in the European Union program at the same university in 2003. He then pursued research for his Ph.D. in public procurement law at Paris Sorbonne University between 2004-2007. Gürbüz Sarı has professional experience working as a specialist lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights from 2001-2005 and as an in-house counsel in various technology companies from 2005-2009. In 2009, he founded Sarılegal Consultancy, a law firm that provides legal services to technology and software companies. He has also worked with tech startups, offering consultancy on investment processes and helping them transition to a corporate structure. Gürbüz Sarı is a recognized expert having given numerous speeches and seminars on the commercialization of technology and intellectual property management. He is also the author of two books on law, with his first book on the protection of property law in the European Court of Human Rights published in 2009 and his second book on IP protection and the commercialization of software published in 2023.