Ilayda Buyukdogan

Ilayda B. is a distinguished entrepreneur and leader in the consumer AI sector, currently serving as the Founder of a stealth startup since March 2025. As a Thiel Fellow since July 2019, Ilayda took a hiatus from college to drive innovation with a $100,000 grant from the Thiel Foundation, becoming the first individual from Turkey to receive this honor. Previously, Ilayda co-founded and served as CEO of Compocket from September 2017 to June 2023, where leadership included overseeing product development and securing venture capital funding while managing international offices. Early experience included serving as a Student Office Assistant at the Women Studies Center in STEM at ITU, where efforts focused on empowering women in entrepreneurship. Ilayda's educational background includes studies in IT, Communication and New Media Engineering at Aalborg University and Electronics and Communications Engineering at Istanbul Technical University.