“We first met in a very nice fish restaurant by the Bosporus drinking some raki. What a good start!” says Arda Kertmelioglu, laughing. Steven van Weede smiles at the memory. Although that introductory meal was only about nine months ago, the two have come a long way together.
Mr Kertmelioglu is co-founder and chief business development officer of Mobilera, a mobile marketing company, based in Istanbul, which has emerged as one of the fastest growing technology companies in the region. Mr van Weede, who is Dutch, is chief executive officer of Gryphon Investment Bank, a boutique based in London, which specialises in working with growth companies in the emerging markets.
