Hakan Akbaş

Helping Global Companies Win in Turkey & Region | Commercial Diplomat & Geopolitical Strategist | 25 Yrs Across F100 & Ankara | CNN · Bloomberg · Reuters | Sr. Partner @ Strategic Advisory Services | Sr. Advisor @DGA-ASG

📍 Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey🔄 Updated September 2026💼 9 investments📅 19 years investing🗓 Last invested Nov 2018𝕏 @upgrade_to_unlock
VC🌍 Turkey
9
Total investments
2
Early stage
0
Mid stage
0
Late stage
19y
Years active

Portfolio

5 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Independent Board Member, Member of Audit & Risk Committees
Nov 2018
Mondi is a global leader in packaging and paper, contributing to a better world by making innovative, packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design. Our business is fully integrated across the value chain – from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and plastic films, to developing and manufacturing effective industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Sustainability is at the centre of our strategy and intrinsic in the way we do business. We lead the industry with our customer- centric approach, EcoSolutions, where we ask the right questions to find the most sustainable solution. Mondi has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (MNDI), and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (MNP). Mondi is a FTSE 100 constituent, and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series since 2007. Please get in touch with our Careers team if you need more information: Mondi Group Group office Vienna Tel: +43 1 79013-0 Email: international.recruiting@mondigroup.com Our Legal, Privacy and Cookie notices here: https://linktr.ee/mondi_group
Angel Investor / Lisansli Melek Yatirimci
Nov 2013
Hakan Akbas is a Senior Advisor of Albright Stonebridge Group in Turkey and Founding Partner of Global Dealings Group in US with more than 25 years of progressively responsible, international experience directing as many as 5,000 employees with revenues in excess of $2.5 billion in Turkey, US, Europe, and China. Hakan Akbas provides advisory, mentoring,leadership training, board membership, speaker, and moderator services to C-level executives and leaders. Mr. Akbas is also an angel investor actively seeking new ventures and enterpreneurs with strong track records. Based in Istanbul and Washington, DC, Mr. Akbas brings to clients operating experience in leading companies with commercial diplomacy, strategic planning, marketing strategy, mergers & acquisitions, PPPs, joint ventures, and business development. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Akbas was the Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Business Development, and Insurance Businesses of Sabanci Group. He also advised Güler Sabanci, chairperson of Sabanci Group and one of world’s top 3 most powerful women by Financial Times in 2012. Previously, Mr. Akbas was the co-founder and Managing Director of Business Development Operations for Xerox Global Services with sales of $10 billion. He serves on the boards of several public and private companies. Mr. Akbas earned an MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in US, and a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Turkey.
Independent Board Member
Jan 2013
Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is an American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage company based in Illinois which employs approximately 80,000 individuals around the world. Our Purpose Our purpose is to empower people to snack right. We will lead the future of snacking around the world by offering the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way. Our Brands We’re leading the future of snacking with iconic brands such as Oreo, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. Our People Our 80,000+ colleagues around the world are key to the success of our business. Our Values and Leadership Commitments of Love our Consumers and Brands, Grow Every Day, and Do Whats Right shapes our culture – what we believe in, stand for, and what guides our actions and decisions. Great people and great brands. That’s who we are. Our Strategies We are uniquely positioned to lead the future of snacking with strong leadership in our categories, an unparalleled portfolio of global and local brands and a solid footprint in fast-growing markets. Aimed at delivering sustainable growth, our strategic plan is centered around three strategic priorities: • Growth: accelerate consumer-centric growth • Execution: drive operational excellence • Culture: build a winning growth culture
Board Member
Jul 2010
Kordsa’s success story begins in 1973 with Sabancı Holding’s plant investment in Izmit to produce tire cord fabric for tire manufacturers. Through the years, Kordsa becoming the market leader in Turkey has also achieved a leading position in global markets by a great know-how on reinforcement materials and processes, its market leadership, strong R&D practices, open innovative approach and strategic perspective in the tire reinforcement industry. Kordsa has been globally recognized as “The Reinforcer” thanks to its technology and market leadership, strong global footprint and 49 years of experience in the reinforcement technologies. Kordsa, reshaping the industry with its “The Reinforcer” position and its strong innovative approach, has entered new business fields and has implemented its tire reinforcement know-how into construction reinforcement and composite reinforcement industries. Kordsa, the leader of the reinforcement technologies, has established the Composite Technologies Center of Excellence in Technopark Istanbul in 2014. The center became active in 2016 in cooperation with Sabancı University. In this center, lecturers of Sabancı University, PhD students and Kordsa employees will be working under the same roof. In this cooperative model, which will be a pioneer in Turkey, Kordsa implements and conducts the “open innovation” concept. Currently, over 5000 global employees of Kordsa work to deliver reinforcement technologies to the world.
Board Member
May 2007
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Experience · 18 entries
All (18)
Investments (9)
Founder (3)
Board (8)
2018
Independent Board Member, Member of Audit & Risk Committees
Nov 2018
Mondi is a global leader in packaging and paper, contributing to a better world by making innovative, packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design. Our business is fully integrated across the value chain – from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and plastic films, to developing and manufacturing effective industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Sustainability is at the centre of our strategy and intrinsic in the way we do business. We lead the industry with our customer- centric approach, EcoSolutions, where we ask the right questions to find the most sustainable solution. Mondi has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (MNDI), and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (MNP). Mondi is a FTSE 100 constituent, and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series since 2007. Please get in touch with our Careers team if you need more information: Mondi Group Group office Vienna Tel: +43 1 79013-0 Email: international.recruiting@mondigroup.com Our Legal, Privacy and Cookie notices here: https://linktr.ee/mondi_group
2014
U.S. Chamber of Commerce/U.S.-Turkey Business Council
Member
Jan 2014
2013
Angel Investor / Lisansli Melek Yatirimci
Nov 2013
Hakan Akbas is a Senior Advisor of Albright Stonebridge Group in Turkey and Founding Partner of Global Dealings Group in US with more than 25 years of progressively responsible, international experience directing as many as 5,000 employees with revenues in excess of $2.5 billion in Turkey, US, Europe, and China. Hakan Akbas provides advisory, mentoring,leadership training, board membership, speaker, and moderator services to C-level executives and leaders. Mr. Akbas is also an angel investor actively seeking new ventures and enterpreneurs with strong track records. Based in Istanbul and Washington, DC, Mr. Akbas brings to clients operating experience in leading companies with commercial diplomacy, strategic planning, marketing strategy, mergers & acquisitions, PPPs, joint ventures, and business development. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Akbas was the Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Business Development, and Insurance Businesses of Sabanci Group. He also advised Güler Sabanci, chairperson of Sabanci Group and one of world’s top 3 most powerful women by Financial Times in 2012. Previously, Mr. Akbas was the co-founder and Managing Director of Business Development Operations for Xerox Global Services with sales of $10 billion. He serves on the boards of several public and private companies. Mr. Akbas earned an MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in US, and a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Turkey.
Independent Board Member
Jan 2013
Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is an American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage company based in Illinois which employs approximately 80,000 individuals around the world. Our Purpose Our purpose is to empower people to snack right. We will lead the future of snacking around the world by offering the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way. Our Brands We’re leading the future of snacking with iconic brands such as Oreo, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. Our People Our 80,000+ colleagues around the world are key to the success of our business. Our Values and Leadership Commitments of Love our Consumers and Brands, Grow Every Day, and Do Whats Right shapes our culture – what we believe in, stand for, and what guides our actions and decisions. Great people and great brands. That’s who we are. Our Strategies We are uniquely positioned to lead the future of snacking with strong leadership in our categories, an unparalleled portfolio of global and local brands and a solid footprint in fast-growing markets. Aimed at delivering sustainable growth, our strategic plan is centered around three strategic priorities: • Growth: accelerate consumer-centric growth • Execution: drive operational excellence • Culture: build a winning growth culture
2012
Independent Board Member
May 2012
Commencis has more than two decades of expertise in the world of experience design, software engineering and cloud technologies. We enable enterprises to design and build digital experiences, create stronger relationships with their customers, and bring agility and scalability with cloud solutions. Our products and solutions are used by leading brands in financial services, insurance, airlines and retail in more than 20 countries. We help our clients around the globe to commence their next evolution and pave the way for a thriving digital society.
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Investment activity
2007–2018 · 9 investments
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