Dilek BARCIN is a French entrepreneur and innovation leader based in Istanbul and co-founder of the advanced technology accelerator MIDDLE-X. She continues its activities in Turkey and the Middle East.

Her 3 years of experience in Los Angeles in the United States have been beneficial in building strong professional relationships. Back in France in 2009, she supported the development of many Turkish companies interested in the investment in France.

Before launching MİDDLE X, she was the head of the Technology and İnnovation department at Business France Turkey, the French governmental Invest & Trade office, where she helped French tech companies to develop their business in Türkiye. She supported French Tech companies, unicorns and startups developing technologies in various sectors such as finance, telecom, retail, e-commerce, edtech, Media.

She describes her work as taking the pulse of the market to identify and develop future services. Her extensive network in Türkiye and her deep knowledge of the French Tech landscape, has enabled her to set up important deals between the two countries and drive business flows.

She initiated several Tech events in Türkiye in different sectors such as Retail & E-commerce, Fintech and Telco, where she accompanied delegations of French Tech companies and facilitated business exchanges with decision-makers from major Turkish groups.

In 2018 and 2019, Dilek has been leading the promotion of French Tech startups and SMEs to Turkish telecom companies such as Türkcell, Vodafone and Turk Telecom, on the world’s main tech event: Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In 2021, she organized the first France-Türkiye Retail & E-Commerce event in İstanbul where she gathered more than 150 Turkish decision makers and conducted more than 100 successful one-on-one meetings between the French delegation and major Turkish companies.

Dilek is trilingual French, English and Turkish.