From Idea to Market-Ready Solution: PhishSolve’s EYE Experience  

The Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) programme continues to empower early-stage entrepreneurs by connecting them with experienced business owners across Europe. As an Intermediary Organisation, ARI Teknokent plays a key role in facilitating successful matchmaking between entrepreneurs from Türkiye and Europe, enabling them to exchange knowledge, experience, and innovative ideas within the scope of the programme.

In this context, a successful collaboration was established between Berkay Yılmaz from İTÜ Çekirdek, a young cybersecurity entrepreneur from Türkiye, and Konstantinos Mavrokefalos, an experienced web development expert and founder of Solomon Designs (UK). This partnership resulted in tangible technical, commercial, and strategic outcomes.

Berkay Yılmaz is the founder of PhishSolve (https://phishsolve.com), a cybersecurity startup focused on AI-driven phishing detection and automated takedown solutions. Motivated to strengthen both his technical and entrepreneurial capabilities, Berkay joined the EYE programme to gain hands-on experience in a real European market environment. His host entrepreneur, Konstantinos Mavrokefalos, brings over 17 years of experience in web development and digital solutions through Solomon Designs.

The two entrepreneurs worked closely on both technical development and business strategy. Key activities included refining PhishSolve’s AI-based phishing detection and automated takedown workflows through threat analysis, model evaluation, system architecture design, and the assessment of real-world phishing cases to improve accuracy and scalability.

Through the EYE programme, PhishSolve successfully validated its business model and technology in a European market context, significantly strengthening its product–market fit. Berkay further enhanced his expertise in AI/ML-based cybersecurity, threat intelligence automation, and scalable SaaS architecture, while also developing essential entrepreneurial skills such as business development, pricing strategies, and go-to-market planning.

This exchange stands as a strong example of how the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme fosters innovation, cross-border cooperation, and sustainable business growth. Stay tuned for our next exchange!