Sponsorship agreements for events organized by institutions are a great opportunity for brands. Such collaborations can be used as an important promotional tool in reaching the right audience and creating a connection with this audience. However, brands sometimes find it difficult to find institutions that they can sponsor and collaborate. In addition, it is difficult for companies to find sponsors for their activities.Our spotlight guest this week is mypoba, which brings solutions to these problems. mypoba founder Kutluhan Sabik told us about mypoba adventure.

What is the name of your startup?

mypoba

What is the website address of mypoba?

www.mypoba.co

Where is your startup based?

Turkey

What are your targeted verticals for your startup?

Sponsorship and Project Management

Tell us what your startup does.

mypoba is an Online Sponsorship and Brand Engagement platform which gathers Brands, Organisers, Places, and Artists & Athletes together in one environment.

Tell us about your team.

Erdem Kaya is our Project Manager and responsible for software development with 8 years of experience.Burak Ozturk is our designer and he is responsible for our website/mobile web design and UI/UX strategy for our potential customers.I am Kutluhan Sabik, Founder and responsible for Sales and Operations. Before mypoba I used to work as a Sales Manager in Dogus Group's new investment online ticketing company Mobilet.com. In total, I have 10 years of sales experience to give the best effort for the product.

When and why did you found your startup?

mypoba's 'Evraka!' moment was when I used to work for Mobilet.com, I was visiting the biggest event and project organizers all around Turkey more than 400 customers and when we talked about Dogus Group they all the time asked for sponsorship possibility with any kind of brand in Dogus. However, we worked too closely with Dogus brands, and most of the time these brands were asking us for an ideal event or project for their strategies to start a sponsorship deal. Then suddenly the idea came up! The exact date is the idea shows up 23.02.2018 but we started to work on it as a product in May 2019.

What are your key and unique features?

Turkey's first and only Online Sponsorship and Brand Engagement Platform of mypoba provides for Organizers, Venues and Artists/Athletes open new doors to potential collaborations by meeting with Brands in accordance with their expectations, target audiences, and strategies. By providing a completely different world to the players of the industry in the digitalized world, apart from stereotyped business models, processes are both easier, both shortening and managing limited resources in the most effective way. At the point of delivering the right proposal to the right person via mypoba, which gives direction, brings a new breath to the Project and Brand Collaborations with its current data and fast network system.With successful transparent processes, it is possible to determine the expectations clearly and can provide a viewership tru system to the potential partners as fast as possible. The contact search takes weeks by reaching the related person as soon as possible via direct message via the system reducing its processes to days or even minutes. With the data created on the platform, Brands can manage their budgets in the most effective way provides opportunity. mypoba provides the opportunity for companies that are members of the platform to sign different collaborations outside their portfolio. Apart from that, they have it expands its areas of influence by participating in many different types of projects with other sources.

What is your growth like?

We are in a Freemium process until September 2020. Analyzing a pandemic situation and do not rush about revenue. Now we are cooperating with 54 members like ING Bank, Johnson& Johnson, Mediamarkt, Electrolux, Dream TV, Contemporary Istanbul, Step Istanbul Art Fair, Dasdas, Bogazici University, Unicef Turkey, Fly-Inn Beach Cesme, Dada Salon, etc. The product is online since the 14th of January, 2020 so we would have time for comparison.

Tell us about the numbers that matter to you.

Our target is 100 paid members until the end of the current year.

What are your plans for next year and next 5 years?

300 paid members in 2021 and 1M+ TL gross revenue in the following year. Next 5 years we would like to expand to foreign markets with first step London than Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Dubai.

Did you receive any investments?

mypoba is supported by ITU Cekirdek but not monetized any investments.

Tell us 3 startups that excite you, and why?

Opensponsorship.com, Figopara, and Earnado. I like Opensponsorship.com analyzing reports about athletes. You could get detailed information about what you support or invest in. Figopara is a perfect solution for payment problems and it supports small enterprises' financial status with their business model. Earnado is really different idea as a marketplace combined B2B and B2C also giving opportunities for youngsters to earn money with their digital skills.