ODS Consulting Group Became the Intermediary for 12 Billion Liras Investment
Onur Seçkin, Chairman of the Board of ODS, has managed to facilitate 120 million dollars in exports with the company he founded while he was a student at METU. Over 12 billion liras in fixed investment projects have been implemented as part of the incentivized investments the company brokered.
ODS Consulting, founded by Onur Seçkin while he was a 3rd-year student at METU, reached a structure that facilitates 120 million dollars in exports and provides 250 full-time jobs with the model it developed. Over 12 billion liras in fixed investment projects have been implemented as part of the incentivized investments the company brokered.
Offering management consultancy, EU project consultancy, and incentivized investment consultancy services to companies from SMEs to large-scale firms, ODS Consulting is now starting to provide carbon footprint and water footprint verification and certification services to Turkish industrialists ahead of the Border Carbon Tax in collaboration with TÜV Austria. Onur Seçkin, Chairman of the Board of ODS, stated that after experiencing his first job experience with two EU projects while he was a 3rd-year university student in 2006, he and his brother Okan Seçkin founded the company in 2008. Seçkin noted that they are one of the first companies to prepare projects for Development Agencies and stated that they have become the largest consultancy company established locally in Turkey. Seçkin conveyed that the company, which started with two people, has now reached an organization that employs 220 people, with offices in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, and Bursa, as well as in the USA and the Netherlands. “We have entered the pool of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.” The company operates under 4 main headings: investment and project management, management consulting and corporate development, export consultancy, and custom software production. Onur Seçkin explained that they have provided project consultancy services in the area of investment incentive certificates and EU grants since the time they founded the company, noting that they prepare an average of about 700 projects annually. Additionally, he stated that they also provide services to Turkish companies wishing to expand abroad and to foreign companies wishing to invest in Turkey, indicating that the companies they have provided consultancy services to have realized over 12 billion liras in fixed investments to date.
“WE ARE ESTABLISHING A VENTURE CAPITAL COMPANY”
Onur Seçkin pointed out that they have had the opportunity to closely understand many sectors and firms due to existing business models, stating that they established a company named ODS Investor AŞ to better assess this. He noted that they formed a 50% partnership with 6 companies with this formation and emphasized their plan to increase this number to 20. Seçkin mentioned that ODS, which demonstrated rapid growth performance, closed last year with a turnover of 100 million liras and stated that they will raise the turnover to 200 million liras this year.
Seçkin continued: “This process, which will rely on our collaboration with TÜV Austria, which has a 150-year history, will play an active role under the EU Green Deal. With carbon footprint and water footprint verification and certification, the aim is to reduce the carbon emissions of Turkish industry during the ‘Border Carbon Tax’ process and to export to the European Union, which aims for carbon neutrality, with minimal tax burden. These goals align with the United Nations’ ‘Sustainable Development Goals.’
In the field of management consultancy, Onur Seçkin stated that they particularly support the institutionalization of family companies and mentioned that they entered the consultancy pool of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in this context. In export consultancy, which is the main source of ODS’s growth, he mentioned that they have facilitated 120 million dollars in exports to date, and discussed how they turned the crisis brought by the currency jump in 2018 into an opportunity. Seçkin conveyed that they provide consultancy services in almost all provinces and sectors of Turkey, and in this context, they have designed a service model that has never been offered in the world before. Instead of going to the fair and waiting for customers, Onur Seçkin stated that they provide their clients with data-based special services, saying, “There are many developed data portals in the world, and we have become members of all of them by making significant payments. We analyze foreign companies in terms of their areas of operation, turnover, and number of employees to determine whether they may be potential buyers. We either gather this information ourselves and present it as a suggestion to companies wishing to export or we find companies directly according to the requests of those who ask for help from us. Among these, there are firms that have never exported so far.”
Seçkin emphasized that they are still providing market development services to firms that are already exporting and noted that there has been intense demand from firms unable to go abroad, especially due to the pandemic.
Providing information that the number of personnel has increased from 70 in 2020 to over 250 today with export support, Seçkin stated, “Companies from the top 500 in Turkey have started to come into our portfolio.” Seçkin also mentioned that they provide VIP consulting software services to companies, stating that they obtained the dealership for the Buniness One package in mid-2021.
