CucinAI's Journey: Accepted to TÜBİTAK BİGG Accelerator & Bocconi University Programs

The CucinAI Story

CucinAI was founded with a vision to reduce food waste through artificial intelligence. It all started with one question: "What's in my fridge, and what can I make with it?" Behind this simple question lies a problem millions face daily — unplanned shopping, forgotten products, and food that ends up in the trash.

We built a cross-platform mobile app with Flutter, powered by a Supabase backend. Our platform offers receipt scanning with Gemini AI, recipe generation with Claude AI, and smart inventory management. We're currently available on Google Play (closed beta) and the App Store via TestFlight.

TÜBİTAK BİGG 1812 — Phase 1 Acceleration

We're proud to announce that CucinAI has been accepted to the TÜBİTAK 1812 Investment-Based Entrepreneurship Support Program (BİGG Investment), specifically Phase 1 — Acceleration Program.

The acceleration program is being carried out with Bilkent Cyberpark as our implementing organization.

Through this program, we're gaining:

• Training modules in business modeling, market validation, and financial planning
• Mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and industry professionals
• Incubation services to transform our business idea into a qualified business plan

Upon successful completion, we'll be eligible to apply for Phase 2 — Pre-Seed Investment, which offers up to 1,350,000 TL in investment for a maximum 3% equity stake (with the Excellence Seal), plus up to 1,350,000 TL in follow-on investment during the monitoring period.

IdeaBoosterLab IT — Bocconi University

Our second major announcement: CucinAI has been accepted to the IdeaBoosterLab IT entrepreneurship training program run by ICRIOS – Bocconi University.

Key program details:

• Funded by: European Research Council (ERC) — the program is completely free
• First in-person session: May 22-23, 2026, Bocconi University campus, Milan
• Online session: June 25, 2026
• Scope: Strategy, business idea validation, and product development for early-stage startups
• Faculty: ICRIOS research center professors
• Partner institutions: RSM Erasmus University (Rotterdam), Bayes Business School / City University of London, Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)

What These Acceptances Mean

These two acceptances mark a significant milestone for CucinAI:

National support (TÜBİTAK) helps us build a strong foundation within Turkey's entrepreneurship ecosystem, while international support (Bocconi/EU) strengthens our potential to expand into European markets.

Mentorship networks, investment readiness, and international connections — these are all critical building blocks in CucinAI's growth journey.

We thank the CucinAI community for being with us on this journey. The best meals are yet to be cooked.