Genç İşi Kooperatif

What Genç İşi Kooperatif does

Genç İşi Kooperatif (legal name: S.S. Genç İşi Bilimsel Araştırma ve Geliştirme Eğitim Kooperatifi) is a non-profit scientific research, development, and education cooperative founded in February 2015 in İzmir, Turkey. It is structured as a workers' cooperative owned by 11 partners (as of 2025) operating under hybrid and flexible work models, supported by a 21-person expert pool, with no profit distribution and a horizontal democratic governance model. The cooperative's mission is to promote an egalitarian, democratic, and sustainable economy through cooperativism, with a focus on enabling disadvantaged groups (women, NEET youth, refugees under temporary protection, people with disabilities, and unpaid domestic workers) to access decent work and socioeconomic rights.

The cooperative's core offerings are program-based rather than a single product. KoopAkademi is an 8-week cooperative entrepreneurship learning and production program delivered via the LearnWorlds LMS. KoopDestek is a bilingual (Turkish/Arabic) digital Q&A platform providing free expert guidance on cooperative governance, financing, and law, with 350,000+ views since 2019. The Kooperatifçilik Eğitim Seti is a customizable training set used with nine grassroots organizations. Project lines include Güçlü Kadın Güçlü Kooperatif (100 women across 5 cooperatives/provinces), Yeni Nesil Kooperatifler Topluluğu (10 cooperatives from 8 provinces), SADA Kadın Kooperatifi (textile/kitchen/leather in Gaziantep), HALKA Kooperatifi (women in cleaning sector in İzmir), and the Tarım-Gıda Dijital ve Yeşil Dönüşüm Bilgi Kiti serving agriculture-food cooperatives. There is no proprietary technology platform; the digital surface runs on LearnWorlds and a standard website/forum.

The revenue model is project-based professional services: paid capacity-building, training, and consulting delivered to cooperatives, NGOs, municipalities, and international organizations (ILO, UNHCR, UN Women, Turkish Red Crescent, Sabancı Foundation, EU, FES, Impact Hub İstanbul). KoopAkademi is currently free for the first cohort with paid cohorts planned. Specific revenue figures and pricing are not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is community-led, leveraging the cooperative's position as Turkey's only ICA Youth Network Executive Board member for Europe and its roster of UN, EU, and Turkish foundation partnerships.

Name

Genç İşi Kooperatif

Legal name

S.S. Genç İşi Bilimsel Araştırma ve Geliştirme Eğitim Kooperatifi

Website

https://gencisi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Genç İşi Kooperatif is a Turkish non-profit workers' cooperative (founded 2015, İzmir) that delivers research, training, and capacity-building services to social cooperatives, NGOs, and municipalities, primarily serving disadvantaged groups including women, youth, refugees, and people with disabilities across Turkey and the MENA region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social and Solidarity Economy Development Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Online/Hybrid Lifelong Learning Platforms & Open Enrollment Programs (EDAAAEAL)

Keywords

• Cooperative capacity building
• Social economy consulting
• Cooperative entrepreneurship training
• Nonprofit research services
• Community development programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Izmir

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Project and Consultancy Services: The cooperative generates revenue through project-based consultancy services, capacity building programs, and training services provided to other cooperatives, NGOs, municipalities, and international organizations.
2. KoopAkademi Training Program: An 8-week cooperative entrepreneurship training program. The first implementation is free; future programs are planned to be paid.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Genç İşi Kooperatif is a non-profit scientific research, development, and education cooperative that delivers capacity building, training, research, and consulting services to strengthen social cooperative ecosystems in Turkey and the MENA region. Its core offerings include project-based consultancy for cooperatives/NGOs/municipalities, the KoopAkademi 8-week cooperative entrepreneurship learning program, and the KoopDestek digital Q&A knowledge platform on cooperative governance, financing, and law.

Product overview

Genç İşi Kooperatif is a scientific research, development and education cooperative that operates as a portfolio of interconnected programs and projects rather than a single product. The core offerings include KoopAkademi (an 8-week cooperative entrepreneurship learning program), KoopDestek (a Q&A information platform for cooperatives), and the Kooperatifçilik Eğitim Seti (cooperative training materials). These are supplemented by specialized projects such as the Tarım-Gıda Dijital ve Yeşil Dönüşüm Bilgi Kiti (digital and green transformation toolkit), Youth4Coops (youth engagement), Güçlü Kadın Güçlü Kooperatif (women's cooperative capacity building), Yeni Nesil Kooperatifler Topluluğu (new generation cooperatives network), and support for specific cooperatives like SADA Kadın Kooperatifi and HALKA Kooperatifi. The organization also provides capacity development, project development, training, research, and consulting services as part of its broader program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KoopAkademi: 8-week learning and production program for designing cooperative ventures from common needs
• KoopDestek

Products and services

• KoopAkademi An 8-week cooperative entrepreneurship learning and production program designed for individuals who want to design cooperative ventures emerging from common needs. The program combines theory, practice, and experience to transform ideas into concrete cooperative plans, based on the need → community → business model approach. Delivered via LearnWorlds online learning platform.
• KoopDestek A digital question-answer platform providing free and accessible information about Turkish cooperative governance, financing, and laws, with expert responses from lawyers, accountants, and cooperative specialists. Available in Turkish and Arabic, with reach to MENA region.
• Kooperatifçilik Eğitim Seti (Cooperative Training Set)

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained 100 women across 5 cooperatives through Güçlü Kadın Güçlü Kooperatif project
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Türk Kızılay (Turkish Red Crescent)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2021Turkish Red Crescent's Community-Based Migration Programs Socioeconomic Empowerment Program. Genç İşi Kooperatif served as service provider for Capacity Building Project for Cooperatives, Cooperative Initiatives, and Social Enterprises, supporting local integration and economic empowerment for vulnerable local populations and migrants.
• HaliéuscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2021Italian National Cooperatives and Mutuals Union Legacoop's international development cooperation organization. Partner in Yeni Nesil Kooperatifler Topluluğu (New Generation Cooperatives Community) project alongside Türkiye Milli Kooperatifler Birliği, with EU support. Contributes training content to KoopAkademi program.
• Türkiye Milli Kooperatifler Birliği (Turkey National Cooperatives Union)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2021Turkey's national cooperatives union. Core partner in Yeni Nesil Kooperatifler Topluluğu project with Haliéus and Genç İşi Kooperatif, supported by EU. Works on strengthening new generation cooperatives' business structures and networking capacities.
• Impact Hub İstanbulcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 August 2019Implementation partner for HALKA Project - EU funded and World Bank administered program promoting women's participation in labor market through social cooperativism in Izmir.
• Uluslararası Çalışma Örgütü (ILO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2019International Labour Organization. Collaboration on SADA Kadın Kooperatifi capacity building (since June 2019) and Youth Employment Research. Genç İşi Kooperatif translated ILO's Think.Coop training module into Turkish for the first time.
• Birleşmiş Milletler Kadın Birimi (UN Women)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019UN Women leads the 'Project for Enhancing Resilience of Syrian Women and Girls' alongside ILO, SGDD, with EU and Japanese Government funding. SADA Women's Cooperative was established under this project.
• Uluslararası Kooperatifler Birliği (ICA) Gençlik AğıcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Cooperative Alliance Youth Network. Genç İşi Kooperatif is Turkey's first and only representative elected to the ICA Youth Network Executive Board for the European continent.
• Birleşmiş Milletler Mülteci Örgütü (UNHCR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNHCR supported Turkish Red Crescent's Community-Based Migration Programs. Genç İşi Kooperatif provided capacity building services to cooperatives and social enterprises under this program.
• Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman political foundation supporting social cooperativism training and advocacy work. Funded training programs for grassroots organizations.
• The Hollings CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUS-based organization. Collaboration on international cooperativism exchange, including a 2018 Istanbul meeting bringing together cooperativists from 4 different countries.
• KoopDestekcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigital Q&A platform created by Genç İşi Kooperatif for cooperative governance, financing and laws. Reached 350,000+ views since 2019. Provides free access to cooperative information in Turkish and Arabic.
• CICOPA (Uluslararası Sanayi ve Hizmet Kooperatifleri Örgütü)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Organization of Industrial and Service Cooperatives. World Standards of Social Cooperatives document published by CICOPA was translated and adapted by Genç İşi Kooperatif for Turkish context.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Co-operatives UK: UK trade association for cooperatives providing training, advocacy, and member services. Comparable as a mature national cooperative apex body offering capacity building and educational resources similar to Genç İşi Kooperatif's mandate.
• Confcooperative (Italian Cooperative Confederation): One of Italy's three major cooperative confederations. Comparable as an established cooperative network with capacity-building and training programmes; referenced as a peer organization studied by Genç İşi Kooperatif during its solidarity-economy research.
• Mondragon Corporation: Federation of worker cooperatives in the Basque Country, Spain. Comparable as a globally recognized model of cooperative enterprise with its own training/education infrastructure; referenced in solidarity-economy literature that informs Genç İşi Kooperatif's work.
• Legacoop (Italian General Confederation of Cooperatives): Major Italian cooperative confederation. Comparable as a large, established cooperative network with international development work and policy influence on social cooperatives; counterpart to the Türkiye Milli Kooperatifler Birliği in joint projects.
• Türkiye Kooperatifler Merkez Birliği / Türkiye Milli Kooperatifler Birliği: National cooperative union of Turkey and Genç İşi Kooperatif's named partner. Comparable as a broader incumbent national cooperative body working on cooperative policy and capacity building across Turkey, with overlapping mandate in cooperative development.

Direct peers

• Impact Hub Istanbul: Turkey-based impact entrepreneurship and social innovation hub. Comparable as a social-economy capacity builder implementing EU/World Bank–administered programmes; served as implementation partner with Genç İşi Kooperatif on the HALKA project.
• CICOPA (International Organisation of Industrial and Service Cooperatives): International body representing industrial and service cooperatives. Direct peer in producing and disseminating standards/knowledge on social cooperatives; Genç İşi Kooperatif translated and adapted CICOPA's World Standards of Social Cooperatives for Turkey.
• Haliéus (Legacoop international development arm): International development arm of Italian cooperative federation Legacoop. Direct peer in cooperative capacity building and EU-funded cooperative development, and an actual partner of Genç İşi Kooperatif on the Yeni Nesil Kooperatifler Topluluğu project.

Emerging players

• Support International (Turkey): Turkey-based NGO implementing EU and UN-funded social development programmes including cooperative and social economy capacity building. Comparable as a project-implementing peer delivering cooperative-focused development work in similar geographies and with similar donor set.
• Ashoka Turkey: Turkish affiliate of global Ashoka network supporting social entrepreneurs. Comparable as a social-economy ecosystem builder in Turkey providing capacity building, fellowship, and training to changemakers, with overlap in target beneficiaries (women, youth, marginalized groups).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gencisikoop
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@gencisikoop
• Facebookfacebook.com/gencisikoop
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10080475
• Instagraminstagram.com/gencisikoop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Genç İşi Kooperatif