Serhan H. Süzer

An entrepreneur of innovative technologies and models. A leader in civil society. An athlete. A global citizen dedicated to sustainability, driven by the mission of leaving a more livable world for all living beings and guided by the 'Pura Vida' philosophy.
Blog Posts
Pura Vida
Ventures
NGOs

My Latest Blog Posts

Real Spider-Men

03/05/2026

Recently, after watching a special episode on Netflix about Alex Honnold, one of the world’s best free solo climbers, climbing

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All Blog Posts
12

Launched Projects

6

Companies & Brands

14

Social Responsibility Projects

8

Activity in Sectors

490

Blog Posts

About Me

Following his graduation from McGill University with a degree in Finance and Accounting, Serhan H. Süzer held various executive roles at The Ritz-Carlton Istanbul and Süzer Group.

He managed the project for the first Coca-Cola plant in Iraq, served on the Tourism Commission of the Turkish State Planning Organization, and was appointed as the Honorary Consul of Costa Rica. Focusing on sustainability, he served as the CEO of KFC and Pizza Hut Turkey, where he opened the country’s first LEED-certified eco-friendly restaurant. Subsequently, he founded companies such as Hitit Solar Energy and Eko Renewable Energy (EkoRE).

Furthermore, he is the founder of technology firms including Moka Payment Institution and Bonbon Technology. As the founding president of the Basic Needs Association (TİDER)—which supports those in need by preventing waste—he continues to play an active role in social entrepreneurship.

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To make the world a more livable place, we must build a fair world order governed by people of integrity.

The difference lies not in one's blood, but in the goodness of one's heart.

Every person in this world has a mission in life. Some discover it and pursue it to the end; others lose their way and pass away.

Sports is physical and mental health; it is the freedom to eat.

Serhan H. Süzer

My Ventures

2011 - 2013 | Hitit Solar Enerji

He launched Hitit Solar Energy, a CSP (Concentrating Solar Power – Solar Thermal) company, in 2011. He successfully exited the company in 2013, selling his shares to a foreign investor. With the funds he obtained from this profitable sale, he launched three different ventures: EkoRE, EkoCCS, and Moka.

2012 - Ongoing | EkoRE

In December 2012, he founded Eko Renewable Energy Inc. (EkoRE) and launched it in 2013. He developed a model that develops projects in PV, wind energy, and biomass, constructs power plants, and sells them to investors after commissioning. He has sold approximately 30 successful projects using this model. Today, EkoRE continues its “sustainability” mission, where all buildings generate their own energy from renewable energy, while focusing on technology investments.

2012 - 2019 | EkoCCS

He founded EkoCC, a call center and software development company. The company merged with Vodasoft in 2016 and continued under the name EkoCCS. This entrepreneurial journey, which began with 20 customer representatives, continued in 2019, when it reached its goal of serving 800 customer representatives and over 150 retail brands. After selling its shares to domestic investors, the company sold its shares to domestic investors.

2014 - 2021 | Moka Payment Enterprise. Inc.

Moka, a fintech (financial technology) company, established itself in the financial sector in 2014 by founding Moka Payment Company Inc. Providing virtual POS, web POS, and bill payment services, Moka solidified its place among the top five payment institutions before selling 100% of the company to İş Bankası (Is Bank), one of the most reputable and largest Turkish Bank, in 2021. Following this successful exit, Moka, a subsidiary of İş Bankası, continues to grow today and operates internationally under the name Moka United.

Sustainability Works

Sustainability projects and initiatives created and supported by me…

My Works
My Articles on Sustainability

I have been actively writing on sustainability topics since 2012. I occasionally share my articles—which I believe significantly contribute to raising awareness—across various platforms. A notable example is my 2013 piece in the TPQ (Transatlantic Policy Quarterly) titled “Why Turkey Should Aim for 100% Renewable Energy.” You can read my sustainability-related blog posts, listed in chronological order from 2012 to the present, here:

My Articles
Reducing Energy Consumption at The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul (2004)

In 2001, during my tenure as the Asset Manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul, the project that excited me most was reducing the hotel’s energy costs through a combination of operational techniques and technological investments. At a time when the field had not yet been formally termed “energy efficiency,” we successfully implemented a series of initiatives that optimized the hotel’s energy consumption, achieving a reduction of approximately 30%.

EFM Energy Efficiency (2006)

EFM was the facility management company of our family business. After taking over the management of the company, my first move was to change its name—the original of which I no longer recall—to “Eko Facility Management.” This was essentially a clear indication of my commitment to the “Eco” (Eko) philosophy. Later, since I continued to use the name “Eko” in all my ventures after leaving the family business, the family renamed the company using its initials, “EFM.” In 2004, when I assumed the roles of Chairman and CEO, the company provided technical, security, and cleaning services. To enable EFM—which previously only served our own real estate—to secure external contracts, I restructured the company to differentiate it through the technical side of the business. I specifically focused on energy efficiency and built the technical infrastructure and highly trained human resources necessary to reduce the energy costs of all types of buildings. We made significant progress in providing energy efficiency services; however, these important initiatives were not sustained after I left the family business.

Honorary Consulate of Costa Rica in Istanbul (2008)

I am proud to have served as the official representative for approximately 14 years of Costa Rica, one of the first countries in the world to set a goal of zero carbon emissions. Costa Rica is a magnificent country where 25% of the land consists of national parks—where not even a single nail can be driven—and more than half is covered by tropical rainforests. In this small Central American country, which perfectly aligns with my own values due to its reflexes toward nature conservation, even hotels are built and operated in a way that does not harm the environment. They have named this concept “Responsible Tourism.”

The First LEED-Certified Green Restaurant in the Yum International Chain, KFC Bostancı (2011)

This was my final project at the family business. In November 2011, as a franchisee in Türkiye, we officially opened a green restaurant that became the first to receive a LEED certification among all Yum International restaurants (the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell worldwide). In an environment where our entire operations team was initially opposed and senior executives grumbled, questioning, “Why is this additional investment necessary?”, I persistently pushed for the restaurant to be opened with this concept. After the opening, beyond ensuring widespread recognition through a robust PR campaign, I reached out to the general managers of other leading food retail companies in the industry, urging them to open restaurants with similar concepts. Naturally, no one listened to me at the time. However, following Covid and other disasters, public awareness has increased, and today we witness many more businesses opening with such green concepts.

Hitit Solar (2011)

After opening the first LEED-certified green restaurant at KFC and Pizza Hut Türkiye in November 2011, I left the family business. About a month later, using a small loan from my family, I co-founded a new solar energy company with the inventor of a CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) technology—which produces heat and steam—that was in the process of commercialization. We held all the patent rights for this technology. At the request of my technical partner, we named the company after the Hittite Empire, one of Anatolia’s significant civilizations that placed the sun at the center of their lives. In fact, we used the iconic Hittite Sun Disk directly while designing the logo.

Due to a disagreement with my technical partner regarding the business model, I later sold my shares in this company to a foreign investor. This technology served as my entry into the solar energy sector. Furthermore, the steam generated by some of the collectors we installed had a direct impact on reducing carbon emissions. Ultimately, I used the proceeds from the sale of my shares in this company to launch three companies simultaneously, accelerating my entrepreneurial momentum.

EkoRE (2012)

Immediately after initiating the process to sell my shares in Hitit Solar, I wasted no time in establishing a new company to serve the electrical power sector. I branded this company EkoRE, an abbreviation for Eko Renewable Energy. The timing for EkoRE, which I launched right after finalizing the sale of my Hitit Solar shares in 2013, was perfect. This was precisely when the PV (Photovoltaic) sector in our country began to take off with unlicensed projects.

Since 2013, we have developed, commissioned, and sold approximately 30 projects. Through these initiatives, we have prevented tons of carbon emissions and provided hundreds of thousands of people with access to electricity from clean sources. We completed our most recent sale last year by divesting our wind power plant in the Kandıra district of Kocaeli to Enerjisa. In this new era of restructuring EkoRE—one of the pioneers of the industry—we will strengthen our position by focusing specifically on technology and finance.

100% Renewable Energy Concept (2013)

I am among the first to advocate that we must meet 100% of our energy needs in Türkiye from renewable sources. I first began to voice this discourse in the solar energy sector in 2011. Later, an opportunity arose, and in the summer of 2013, I penned an article titled “Why Turkey Should Aim for 100% Renewable Energy?” for a think-tank publication then known as Turkish Policy Quarterly, now called Transatlantic Policy Quarterly (TPQ). Following this article, there were those in the energy sector who smirked at me and claimed my ideas were too utopian. In fact, immediately after my article was published, we witnessed some fossil fuel companies tending to release counter-articles. Since those years, our struggle with the fossil fuel lobby continues.

TİDER (Basic Needs Association - 2014)

During the period I assumed the role of CEO for KFC and Pizza Hut, we first founded TİDER as the Food Banking Association together with other food companies, and I was elected as the association’s first chairman of the board. In other words, I became the founding president. We conducted traditional food banking for the following 5 years. In the general assembly held in 2014, we completely changed the direction of the association. We introduced models for preventing waste and “teaching how to fish while giving fish.” These models won us the first innovation award of the Global Foodbanking Network, organized with the votes of food banks operating worldwide, in 2017.

We set an important example with the model we created here; by the Petition Commission contacting us, we transferred our know-how and vision to our state. Thus, we laid the foundation for the “Zero Waste” model that was introduced in the following years and supported by the entire state. We also worked hard to ensure that thousands of our people earn their own bread with dignity. In this way, through TİDER, we have made significant contributions to sustainability from both a climate and humanitarian perspective.

EkoCCS Solar Grill (2018)

In 2018, nearly 1,000 people in total were working across all my ventures. More than 800 of them were employed at EkoCCS, our call center and software company. To ensure our employees’ comfort, we built our new office in Çekmeköy based on a model similar to Google’s offices. Our employees had many amenities, from a fitness center and a hairdresser to areas where they could have fun and spend time. During that period, whenever I found the opportunity, I frequently gave advice and guidance to our colleagues regarding sustainability. For example, waste sorting was a matter we prioritized in our company. During a forest event we organized annually, where all our colleagues gathered, I brought a Solar Grill that I had purchased from a solar energy fair at the time. The fact that we could perform the cooking process and enjoy a barbecue using only sunbeams, without any coal or fire, had surprised everyone in a positive way.

Disaster Platform (2020)

After the Elazığ Earthquake, I founded the Disaster Platform in Elazığ, where I had gone to represent TİDER. I already had the idea of establishing the Disaster Platform on my mind while traveling to Elazığ. As the mastermind behind this initiative, I shared my thoughts with the directors of NGOs that I felt aligned with. Once we came together, others followed suit, and we established a mechanism in which over 20 NGOs acted in unison. Later, I was unanimously elected as the first Term Spokesperson of the Disaster Platform (we named it “Term Spokesperson” because sensitive colleagues suggested using “spokesperson” instead of “presidency”). Both the name and the logo of the Disaster Platform were accepted by a majority vote exactly as I had proposed. Naturally, despite having initiated many important works in terms of disaster relief, I later departed before being able to see them through, due to the behavior of certain individuals who made civil society their primary interest and constantly tried to bring themselves to the forefront in the sector.

Career

EkoRE

2012 – Present

Founder & Chairman

Moka

2014 – 2021

Founder & Chairman

EkoCCS

2012 – 2019

Founder & Chairman

Hittite Solar

2011 – 2013

Founder & CEO

Honorary Consulate of Costa Rica

2008 – 2021

Diplomat

KFC ve Pizza Hut Türkiye

2009 – 2011

CEO

Generali Sigorta Türkiye

2005 – 2006

Chairman

Coca Cola Irak

2006 – 2009

Project Director

EFM Facility Management

2004 – 2011

Chairman & CEO

Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul

2001 – 2006

Asset Manager

You can also read my article about my career titled 15 years of professional life and notes for the future....

My Pioneering Milestones

First Post-War Investment, Coca-Cola Iraq

Following the U.S. entry into Iraq in 2003, we made the first investment in the country with Coca-Cola Iraq. I managed this investment on behalf of my family business.
2008

First Presidential Visit from Central America to Türkiye

In the final months of 2009, we achieved a historic milestone in the history of the Republic of Türkiye by organizing the first official visit from Central America, hosted for Nobel Peace Prize-winning President Oscar Arias.
2009

Food Banking

I am among the pioneers of food banking in Türkiye. In May 2010, we established the Food Banking Association. Our NGO, which we later renamed the Basic Needs Association (TİDER), has exerted great effort from the very beginning to establish the Food Banking system within the sector.
2010

Solar Energy

I am one of the founders of the solar energy sector in Türkiye. I entered the industry in 2011 with CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) technology, which generates heat and steam. In 2013, I transitioned to the PV (Photovoltaic) sector for electricity generation. Since that year, I have spearheaded dozens of projects in the solar energy sector.
2011

First LEED-Certified Green Restaurant in the Yum International Chain (KFC – Bostancı)

My final project at the family business was opening the first LEED-certified green restaurant within the Yum International chain.
2011

Turkish Premiere of Costa Rican Film Director Hilda Hidalgo

As the Honorary Consulate of Costa Rica, we brought Hilda Hidalgo, one of Costa Rica's prominent directors, to Istanbul and organized a weekend premiere at Istanbul Modern.
2011

Türkiye's First Electric Vehicles

In 2013, I purchased and began using one of the first 200 "100% electric" vehicles brought to Türkiye by Renault.
2013

100% Renewable Energy

I am one of the first to advocate that we must meet 100% of our energy needs from renewable sources in Türkiye. I formalized the speeches I delivered on this matter with an article titled “Why Turkey Should Aim for 100% Renewable Energy?” published in Transatlantic Policy Quarterly (TPQ) in 2013.
2013

Financial Technology (Fintech)

I am among the pioneers of the fintech sector in Türkiye. After founding Moka Payment Institution in 2014, our company became one of the first three firms to receive an official "Payment Institution" license from the BRSA (BDDK).
2014

Reciprocal Opening of Embassies between Türkiye and Costa Rica

Following our extensive efforts, the reciprocal opening of embassies between Türkiye and Costa Rica took place for the first time in the history of the Republic of Türkiye in 2014.
2014

Establishment of the First Flight Route from Türkiye to Central America

After the Civil Aviation Agreement was signed between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye and Costa Rica in 2013, we finally persuaded the Turkish Airlines (THY) management and put significant effort into establishing the Panama City – Istanbul flight route. The distance between Panama City and San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, is only 1 hour.
2016

Costa Rican Sculptor Jose Sancho’s Exhibition at Pera Museum

We facilitated the arrival of Jose Sancho, one of Costa Rica's most important artists, to Türkiye for the first time, enabling him to hold an exhibition at the Pera Museum throughout the summer.
2017

TİDER Wins the First Innovation Award from the Global Foodbanking Network

TİDER, a member of the Global Foodbanking Network (GFN)—an NGO representing food banks operating worldwide—won the first-ever innovation award organized at the summit it attended in 2017.
2017

Pioneering the Change of the Name "Turkey" to "Türkiye"

In 2019, I penned a blog post suggesting that Turkey's name in English should be changed to "Turkia" rather than "Turkey." Following this article, a process unfolded that led to the official change of Türkiye's name in English to "Türkiye."
2019

Vending Machine Food Banking

During the period we began establishing the TİDER model, I spearheaded the launch of Vending Machine Food Banking with Kadıköy Municipality to automate the delivery of aid.
2019

Disaster Platform

I am the visionary and one of the founders of the Disaster Platform. I went to the relief efforts of the Elazığ Earthquake with this idea in mind, and with the support of leaders from other NGOs, we established the Disaster Platform.
2020

For more details, you can read my article titled A Versatile Entrepreneur's Challenge with the Environment in Türkiye.