KAYMEK

What KAYMEK does

KAYMEK (legal entity: Kayseri Mesleki Eğitim ve Kültür A.Ş.) is a wholly-owned joint-stock subsidiary of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality (Kayseri Büyükşehir Belediyesi), operating since March 31, 2019 under the leadership of Mayor Dr. Memduh Büyükkılıç. The company functions as the city's vocational education and cultural services arm, branded locally as Kayseri's '6th university.' It delivers a comprehensive portfolio of free educational, cultural, and social programs to citizens across Kayseri province, organized into six operating lines: Genç KAYMEK youth centers (TYT, AYT, LGS, KPSS exam preparation serving 4,000+ students); KAYMEK Sanat ve Mesleki Eğitim Kursları (242+ vocational, artistic, and language course branches); Sosyal Yaşam Merkezleri (district-level social life centers across Talas, Sarıoğlan, Palas, İncesu, Hacılar, and other municipalities); Aile Akademisi (family counseling and psychological support with 11 counselors); Besime Özderici Engelsiz Yaşam Merkezi (accessible living services for people with disabilities); and e-38, a digital marketplace exporting handmade goods from course participants to approximately 200 countries. Supporting digital infrastructure includes kaymekonline.com for course registration, kaymekyarisma.com for competitions, and a Kahoot-based quiz system.

The company has cumulatively served over 1.174 million citizens across its first six years of operation through 15+ physical facilities. Technology stack is utilitarian rather than differentiated: standard web registration and e-commerce platforms, no proprietary AI/ML capabilities, and no API ecosystem. Notable outcomes include 37 of 524 students placed in the top 100,000 nationally on the YKS university entrance exam in 2024-2025, and over 500,000 visitors to the annual Kayseri Children's Book Fair. Specialized programming includes endangered Turkish craft preservation (çini, ebru, Edirnekari, hüsn-i hat) aligned with TÜRKSOY 2027 Turkish World Culture Capital designation.

The business model is government-funded public service delivery, not commercial monetization. The primary revenue stream is municipal budget allocation (labeled managed_services in source material), with all educational services provided free of charge to citizens. The secondary stream is e-38 marketplace commissions on handmade goods sold internationally. The entity is privately held as an A.Ş. (joint-stock company) structure, has 36 direct employees, and is not listed on any public exchange. Customer base spans five distinct persona segments (children/youth, young adults/job seekers, adults/seniors, people with disabilities, families) with no commercial customer concentration, making revenue non-cyclical but politically anchored to a single municipal principal.

Name

KAYMEK

Legal name

Kayseri Mesleki Eğitim ve Kültür A.Ş.

Website

https://kaymek.com.tr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

KAYMEK is a Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality-owned company providing free vocational, academic, cultural, and family-support education across 15+ facilities and 300+ course branches to over 1.174 million citizens in Kayseri, Turkey, supplemented by an e-commerce marketplace exporting handmade goods.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kayseri

HQ country

Türkiye

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Municipal Government Funding: KAYMEK operates as a municipal-owned joint-stock company (A.Ş.) funded by Kayseri Büyükşehir Belediyesi. All educational services are provided free of charge to citizens.
2. e-38 E-Commerce Platform: The e-38 digital marketplace sells handmade products created by KAYMEK course participants. The platform also enables e-export to approximately 200 countries and generates revenue from product sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

KAYMEK provides free vocational education, cultural programs, exam preparation (TYT, LGS, YKS, KPSS), language courses, traditional arts and crafts, family counseling, and disability support services to citizens of Kayseri through 15+ physical facilities and digital platforms. The organization also operates the e-38 e-commerce marketplace that sells handmade products crafted by course participants, exporting to approximately 200 countries.

Product overview

KAYMEK (Kayseri Mesleki Eğitim ve Kültür A.Ş.) operates as a municipal education and culture company under Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, functioning as the city's '6th university.' The organization provides a comprehensive portfolio of free educational and cultural services across multiple integrated platforms: Genç KAYMEK youth centers for academic support and student development; Sosyal Yaşam Merkezleri social life centers across 15+ districts; KAYMEK Sanat ve Mesleki Eğitim courses offering 242+ branches of vocational, artistic, and skills training; Aile Akademisi family support services with counseling and therapy; Besime Özderici Engelsiz Yaşam Merkezi accessible living center for disabled individuals; and e-38 e-commerce platform supporting local artisans. Supporting digital infrastructure includes kaymekonline.com for course registration and kaymekyarisma.com for competitions and contests.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KAYMEK Sanat ve Mesleki Eğitim Kursları
• Genç KAYMEK Youth Centers

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,174,000+ citizens reached with education and social services in 6 years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Yayasan Hasanah (Malaysia)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Foundation's charity arm visited KAYMEK's Bünyan Women's and Youth Center as part of the Turkey 2025 Traditional Textile Heritage Union Project. The visit included cultural exchange and traditional textile demonstrations.
• Kayseri Büyükşehir BelediyesicoreOthersKAYMEK is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality. All funding, facilities, and strategic direction comes from the municipality under the leadership of Mayor Dr. Memduh Büyükkılıç.
• T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Arşivleri Genel MüdürlüğüminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPresidential Archives provided 70 scanned historical documents for the 'Documents in Ottoman Palas' exhibition organized by KAYMEK at Palas Social Life Center.
• İl Sağlık Müdürlüğü (Provincial Health Directorate)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial Health Directorate provides support for first aid training programs. KAYMEK coordinates with the directorate to deliver certified first aid courses to municipal employees.
• Kocasinan, Melikgazi, Talas MunicipalitiesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with district municipalities for marriage registration offices where Aile Akademisi counselors provide pre-marriage education and family support services.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Khan Academy: Free global online education nonprofit. Most thematically aligned with KAYMEK's free-to-user, broad-curriculum, lifelong-learning positioning, though delivered digitally rather than through municipal facilities.
• Türk Eğitim Vakfı (TEV): Major Turkish education foundation providing scholarships and educational support. Adjacent enabling organization that supports education access in Turkey; thematically related to KAYMEK's mission of removing financial barriers to learning.
• Coursera: Global online education platform offering courses, certificates, and degree programs. Comparable as an adjacent education-delivery model; relevant for understanding digital learning infrastructure benchmarks, though Coursera is paid and global.

Direct peers

• BUSMEK (Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyesi Sanat ve Mesleki Eğitim Kursları): Bursa Metropolitan Municipality's free vocational and cultural education program. Direct municipal peer offering free courses in arts, crafts, and vocational skills across multiple facilities, comparable in funding model and target demographics.
• Halk Eğitim Merkezi (Public Education Centers, MEB): Turkey's national network of public adult education centers under the Ministry of National Education. Provides free lifelong learning courses across all provinces; the federal-scale equivalent of KAYMEK's offering and its closest public-sector comparator.
• İSMEK (İstanbul Sanat ve Mesleki Eğitim Kursları): İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality's vocational and arts education arm, structurally identical to KAYMEK in mission (municipal-funded free courses, multi-location delivery, sub-brand structure). Most direct comparable given matched municipal-owned A.Ş. structure and course catalog breadth.
• Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi Eğitim Hizmetleri (BELMEK): Ankara Metropolitan Municipality's municipal education services program offering free vocational and cultural courses to capital-city residents. Same ownership structure (municipal A.Ş.) and free-delivery model as KAYMEK.

Emerging players

• Doğa Koleji: Private K-12 chain in Turkey offering academic and STEM-focused curricula. Comparable in serving youth segments and exam preparation needs that overlap with KAYMEK's youth center offerings.
• Bahçeşehir Koleji: Major private K-12 education chain in Turkey with broad curriculum across academic and vocational tracks. Overlaps with KAYMEK's exam preparation and youth development segments but operates as a paid private alternative.
• Final Okulları: Private education brand focused on exam preparation (YKS, LGS, KPSS) across Turkey. Comparable to KAYMEK's Genç KAYMEK youth centers in target audience and exam-prep focus, but operates on a paid commercial model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/kaymek
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kaymek

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KAYMEK