The Journey of Connected2.me after joining Silicon Valley

This article is written by Nardine B. M’barek, a Contributor Author at Startup Istanbul.

Ozan Yerli graduated from Bilkent Univesity in 2013 where he studied physics. He is a young entrepreneur who is very passionate, and is the CEO of the online platform ‘Connected2.me’. He was one of our guests during Startup Turkey where he shared with us the success story that is related to the establishment of his business.

Connected2.me is an online platform that allows people to enjoy their anonymity while still chatting with their friends or with strangers. It was founded by Ozan Yerli, a young entrepreneur who thought it was a good idea to bring that kind of platform into existence and give the chance to socialize to people who do not want to expose their identities publically. The platform comes both in a web version and in a mobile phone version so that it allows its users to use it whenever they want.

It was first launched in Turkey and gained many users quickly. Seeing the success that the platform achieved, the company’s traction increased noticeably in a short while, especially when the application and web platform were released globally. It now counted millions of users worldwide and continues on attracting others every day in huge and very important numbers.

The company’s team, led by Ozan Yerli, were the winners of Startup Istanbul, they got the chance to meet and talk with the CEO of 500 Startup, who ended up inviting them to their event back in the Silicon Valley where they first began their journey towards success.

They first were invited to his hotel where they were discussing things concerning their startup and all, but then, they had to drive him to the airport to catch a flight, and that is how they got the invitation to go to 500 Startups during the next two weeks. The process was done swiftly as they received a confirmation mail within just fifteen minutes to which they had to reply by filling in a form and adding their personal information and bank account. They also signed the investment papers online in a digital way.

As Mr. Ozan Yerli stated, everything was done in a very fast way which made the whole team very happy and excited about this new adventure that was waiting for them to get started. They completed the procedure in a short period of time and formed a corporation in the United States where they started their work as a global company, and which allowed them to launch their platform outside of Turkey, where it was originally available.

They joined the accelerator program of 500 Startup when they went to Silicon Valley where they learned many things of course and benefited from the mentorship and guidance offered by the coaches there.

When they returned to Turkey from Silicon Valley, they began work there and were actually able to raise around 500 thousand Dollars in just two weeks coming from Turkish Angles and investors whom they deeply want to thank for supporting them and giving them the opportunity to achieve their dreams and goals.

This short success story proves to us that nothing is really impossible. If you want to reach the top then you can if only you are able and ready to invest all your effort and time in it. Success will most of the times be accompanied by failure which you need to learn from and do better.

https://youtu.be/rft5StE-GRM