Yasin Taha Celiloğlu, an IT specialist, is currently active in entrepreneurship in Russia. His main goal is to establish ICONIC (formerly vMind Joint Venture) as a key player in the region.
Yasin began his career in the Russian business sector as an IT manager for the project to establish the Russian subsidiary of Turkey's Ziraat Bank. After seven years, he reached a major crossroads and decided to start his own business in IT.
In 2015, his meeting with Volkan Duman, founder of vMind Bilgi Teknolojileri A.Ş., which had already been operating in the market for two years, became a turning point in his career.
Yasin left his position at the bank to become Business Development Manager and Regional Director for Eurasia at vMind Bilgi Teknolojileri A.Ş.. Additionally, he is the CEO and partner of vMindJV, headquartered in Moscow. vMind provides services not only in Russia but also in former Soviet Union countries, such as Kazakhstan, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
Yasin comments: “We work on both comprehensive infrastructure projects and the supply of equipment, software, and licenses, providing ongoing support. We are experts in cloud services, storing our clients' data in three different data centers in Turkey while ensuring high-speed access.”
vMind ended the previous year with a turnover of over $10 million, investing $2 million during that period, and the number of employees increased to 160. vMind partners with over 35 manufacturers across 40 different sectors. The young entrepreneur highlights that the CIS market offers significant growth opportunities in IT, and the company is on its way to becoming a regional leader. Currently, Russia is the priority market for vMind. The dynamics of the Russian IT market will determine the company’s future development. So, how does Celiloğlu assess the Russian IT market?
First, he points out that Russia has a certain conservatism:
“This conservatism does not make the country closed to development and innovation. On the contrary, Russia has a highly educated population and an advanced, relatively inexpensive internet network throughout the country. The openness to innovation is confirmed by the success of Russian IT companies like Kaspersky, FaceApp, Veeam, and Yandex on the global market. Yasin also notes the abundance of high-level human resources working in the IT sector. However, he mentions the high cost of labor in Moscow, which is why many companies are seeking engineers and programmers in remote regions like Novosibirsk.”
Yasin believes that the education program is well-structured, introducing children to computer science and development from an early age. This allows them to specialize in IT during their university studies, preparing them to succeed and be ready for the business world. Turkish companies began entering the Russian market in the 1990s, mainly in the construction sector. Yasin Taha Celiloğlu notes that the Russian market offers ideal opportunities for growth in IT: “We are talking about a country with a well-developed culture of adapting to new technologies. This could lead to the loss of our competitive edge in areas we consider unique and very promising.” This is why he believes that hard work is essential.
Yasin began his career in the Russian business sector as an IT manager for the project to establish the Russian subsidiary of Turkey's Ziraat Bank. After seven years, he reached a major crossroads and decided to start his own business in IT.
In 2015, his meeting with Volkan Duman, founder of vMind Bilgi Teknolojileri A.Ş., which had already been operating in the market for two years, became a turning point in his career.
Yasin left his position at the bank to become Business Development Manager and Regional Director for Eurasia at vMind Bilgi Teknolojileri A.Ş.. Additionally, he is the CEO and partner of vMindJV, headquartered in Moscow. vMind provides services not only in Russia but also in former Soviet Union countries, such as Kazakhstan, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
Yasin comments: “We work on both comprehensive infrastructure projects and the supply of equipment, software, and licenses, providing ongoing support. We are experts in cloud services, storing our clients' data in three different data centers in Turkey while ensuring high-speed access.”
vMind ended the previous year with a turnover of over $10 million, investing $2 million during that period, and the number of employees increased to 160. vMind partners with over 35 manufacturers across 40 different sectors. The young entrepreneur highlights that the CIS market offers significant growth opportunities in IT, and the company is on its way to becoming a regional leader. Currently, Russia is the priority market for vMind. The dynamics of the Russian IT market will determine the company’s future development. So, how does Celiloğlu assess the Russian IT market?
First, he points out that Russia has a certain conservatism:
“This conservatism does not make the country closed to development and innovation. On the contrary, Russia has a highly educated population and an advanced, relatively inexpensive internet network throughout the country. The openness to innovation is confirmed by the success of Russian IT companies like Kaspersky, FaceApp, Veeam, and Yandex on the global market. Yasin also notes the abundance of high-level human resources working in the IT sector. However, he mentions the high cost of labor in Moscow, which is why many companies are seeking engineers and programmers in remote regions like Novosibirsk.”
Yasin believes that the education program is well-structured, introducing children to computer science and development from an early age. This allows them to specialize in IT during their university studies, preparing them to succeed and be ready for the business world. Turkish companies began entering the Russian market in the 1990s, mainly in the construction sector. Yasin Taha Celiloğlu notes that the Russian market offers ideal opportunities for growth in IT: “We are talking about a country with a well-developed culture of adapting to new technologies. This could lead to the loss of our competitive edge in areas we consider unique and very promising.” This is why he believes that hard work is essential.