Ustamdan Tuğçe Gülcüler Şahıs Şirketi (Ustamdan)

Our project is an e-trading site aiming to solve the decline local markets are in because of branding.

We are two founders: Müge Ulusoy (Industrial Engineer)  and Gökçe Gülcüler (Aeronautics Engineer).

Ustamdan was born from a problem we observed in society: high immigration from rural areas to cities. Potential labor keeps shifting to cities as more and more people move to city centers and the local economy disappears atan alarming rate. The best way to break this paradox in countryside, we believe, is to help improve the economy in rurals. 

We, as Ustamdan, want to find a solution to this. As for social impact, Ustamdan will improve the value given to hand crafts in society, reveal the importance of artisanship in our history and culture and signify domestic tourism by connecting rural with urban. It will pique curiosity towards national values. The most important of all is the network we are creating for artisans. With this network hundreds of artisans will be in touch with others that devoted their lives on their crafts just like themselves, thus encouraging them to carry on their art to newer generations.

We will use 10% of our profit to establish a fund to be used to train young apprenticeship.  

Our website is using E-trades, blogs, and visuals and we are using social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest to advertise the site and to increase the awareness around our project.

On the internet:

• Users can buy products,
• Artisans’ stories, pictures of them and their workshops, products, videos.  
• Stories of our trips, what we have seen
• Histories and other information of hand crafting arts 
   

Our targets:

• 35-year-old corporate person looking for innovative corporate presents for his/her customers 
• Students attracted by innovative design
• Backpacker who have no place to take with them souvenirs
• 45-year-old people who do not like or no ability to travel but love to buy handicrafts for his/her house or friends.

So far, we sold our products offline and now, we started to create a website.

We gained awards with Ustamdan.

• 02.2014  TRPE Capital-Entrepreneurship Scholarship-Gökçe Gülcüler
• 05.2014  Startup Weekend Women Ankara-Second Prize-Müge Ulusoy
• Microsoft, Habitat Center for Development and Governance, International Center for Entrepreneurship 
• 09.2014 Turkey Entrepreneurship Foundation- Entrepreneurship Scholarship -Müge Ulusoy
• 11.2014  BİLGİ Young Social Entrepreneur Awards -Finalist-Gökçe Gülcüler
• İstanbul Bilgi University, International Youth Foundation, Sylvan Laureate Foundation 
• 01.2015 Things-First Prize
• Techsoup Europe, TOG:Community Volunteers Foundation |
• 01.2015  Global Social Venture Capital (GSVC)
• Balkans,Middle East and North Africa-Second Prize
• 2015  Ashoka ChangeMakereXchange-Participant
• 02.2015   TRPE Capital- Entrepreneurship Scholarships -Gökçe Gülcüler-Müge Ulusoy

Our next step is developing our system in Turkey, after that we want to expand our borders and want to sell abroad. Because Turkish crafts are high quality products and people from abroad are very interested with Turkish Crafts. 

We are social entrepreneur, meaning that although we are incorporated as a company, our aim is to have a social impact and to be sustainable.