Founder

Esra Pelitozu’s career spans over 20 years with a focus on strategy, finance, and business development. Starting her career at Deloitte Consulting, she held several positions in the corporate world. She joined the World Bank in 2004, where she led the strategy for gap and community financing projects. In 2006, she joined Selco Finance and Industrial Group to manage the international trade of chemicals and specialty oil products where she later became a shareholder. She has worked extensively internationally with operations in Europe and the Middle East. In 2015, Esra established Troya Asset Management and managed two funds. She later exited the company to private equity investors in 2017. A driven professional turned entrepreneur, Esra has a strong background in management, operations, strategic planning and partnership development, and team building. She is currently the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of First Drop Ventures.

Founder

John Yanyali is an entrepreneur who jumped into the business world by investing across the technology industries. He then expanded into the Smart Industry, with a focus on the energy, finance, infrastructure, transportation, and security industries. In 2008, he became the Chief Operating Officer of Elektronet, a digital technologies provider. Under his leadership, the company became the largest manufacturer and developer of custom hardware and software systems in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2016, John launched Jova Digital in California which provides payment and smart city services. In 2017, he became one of the first investors of Duuple, the first challenge-based social media platform. In 2018, he joined Juicebot as an executive board member and was later elected as the Chief Executive Officer. John is a Partner and Co-Founder of First Drop Ventures.

Founder

Emin Yilmaz is the Co-founder and Chairman of Turuncu Holding (Param), a financial technology company with an e-money license. He co-founded Turuncu Holding with his brother in 2008 after personally experiencing the difficulty developers face when implementing a way to accept payments online for content and goods. After becoming the leading payment service provider, Param has expanded internationally and launched subsidiaries in the U.S., the U.K., and U.A.E, processing millions of dollars each day. Emin’s experience in financial technology has allowed him to disrupt the banking and finance industry in many regions. Emin is a Partner and Co-Founder of First Drop Ventures.