This is a big day for us at Earlybird Digital East Fund.

It is with great pride and excitement that we announce Mehmet Atici’s promotion to Partner at Earlybird Digital East Fund.

For anyone who has interacted with us, chances are that they have met Mehmet in the process. He joined us first in 2013, almost a year before the first close of the Digital East Fund I. His background until that point was one of overachievement. A product of the highly-competitive Turkish academic system, he was the valedictorian of his high school class, and the salutatorian at Bogazici University’s Computer Science Class of 2013.

At Earlybird, Mehmet’s tenure has since been one of quick learning, selfless dedication, and aligning with our priorities at every stage of our evolution. He made significant contributions to many of our portfolio companies, including leading the initial investments and successful exits, and forming strong working relationships with his founder teams. He has been very involved in the development of our investment team, playing a key role in their recruitment and training, as well as building up our internal machinery for sourcing and deal evaluation. During the challenging pandemic period, Mehmet was critical for our shift to a remote working environment, ensuring our operations did not suffer along the way.

We are a bit old school in that we feel venture capital is an industry learned through apprenticeship. Mehmet represents the best of how one can develop rapidly as an investor and earn the respect and trust of both his colleagues and the teams he works with in his portfolio.

Recognizing his demonstrated contributions in every aspect of the Digital East Fund, we are very proud to welcome him to our Partnership.

This post was first published on the Earlybird VC Blog.