Who owns SimBT? Founders and the management team
Quick answer: SimBT, the simulation company based at the ODTÜ Technopolis in Ankara, is a privately held limited company. According to the company’s own promotional text the firm was founded in April 2009 by two people with more than 25 years of experience in modelling and simulation, an academic and a specialist with a master’s degree. Public records list Ziya İpekkan as general manager and Dr. Çağatay Ündeğer as director of research and development projects; the company does not publish a current management chart on its official website.
Shareholding structure: what is known and what is not
SimBT’s registered name is Simülasyon Bilim ve Teknolojileri Mühendislik Danışmanlık ve Ticaret Limited Şirketi. The company is not publicly listed; its share distribution and shareholding structure are not officially disclosed. The only public framework on the founding is the “two founders” account repeated in the company’s exhibition and career profiles. That text does not name the founders, but the management records in public sources match two names.
Ziya İpekkan: the general manager record
The business information platforms ZoomInfo and RocketReach list Ziya İpekkan as SimBT’s general manager. Sevil İpekkan (director) and Deniz İpekkan (finance and contracts manager), who share the same surname, also appear in company records. NATO research documents mention the name “Colonel Z. İpekkan” in the context of the conference on “C3I and Modelling and Simulation Interoperability” held in Antalya in October 2003; that record points to a career with a modelling and simulation background within the Turkish Armed Forces. The two records very probably belong to the same person, but this has not been officially confirmed.
Dr. Çağatay Ündeğer: the academic founder profile
On his personal page at Bilkent University’s Department of Computer Engineering, Çağatay Ündeğer appears as “General Manager of SimBT Ltd. Şti.” from 2009 onwards; the same page lists the ODTÜ Modelling and Simulation programme, a part-time teaching post at Bilkent and modelling and simulation consultancy at Meteksan Sistem. Ündeğer holds a doctorate in computer engineering from ODTÜ (2007) and worked as a modelling and simulation specialist in the defence sector between 2001 and 2008. The current ZoomInfo record shows the title of director of research and development projects. The difference between the two sources can be explained by titles changing over time; the company’s current division of responsibilities is not officially disclosed.
The management table in public sources
| Name | Title in public sources | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ziya İpekkan | General Manager | ZoomInfo, RocketReach |
| Dr. Çağatay Ündeğer | General Manager (own page) / R&D Projects Director (ZoomInfo) | Bilkent personal page; ZoomInfo |
| Sevil İpekkan | Director | ZoomInfo, The Org |
| Deniz İpekkan | Finance and Contracts Manager | ZoomInfo, The Org |
| Altan Yavaş | Programmes Director | The Org |
| Erdost Yener | Strategy and Business Development Director | The Org |
| Nurbanu Kökhan | Human Resources Manager | The Org |
This table relies on third party data providers, where currency and accuracy are not guaranteed. There is no management page on the company’s official website.
What shapes the corporate identity?
SimBT’s link to academia is clear: the company states that it runs product-oriented projects with university academics and is located at the ODTÜ Technopolis. The combination of a Turkish Armed Forces modelling and simulation background with academic software research in the management profiles is visible in infrastructure-heavy products such as the company’s image generator and maritime simulators.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns SimBT?
The shareholding structure is not officially disclosed. According to the company’s own material the firm was founded in 2009 by two founders; the management names in public records cluster around the surnames İpekkan and Ündeğer.
Who is SimBT’s general manager?
ZoomInfo and RocketReach records show Ziya İpekkan as general manager. The company has not published an official statement.
What is Çağatay Ündeğer’s role in the company?
General manager from 2009 on his own academic page; director of research and development projects in current third party records. The current title is not officially disclosed.
Is SimBT a family company?
Three managers with the surname İpekkan appear in public records, but because the share structure has not been disclosed the description of a family company cannot be verified.
How many people does SimBT employ?
The LinkedIn record shows around 48 employees. No official figure has been stated. For the company’s work see the references file.
Sources and verification note
Management information was compiled from third party sources and the contradictions are noted in the text; the company has issued no official statement. Undisclosed data has been marked “Not officially disclosed.” Accessed: August 12, 2026.
- http://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~cagatay/
- https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Ziya-İpekkan/-1406805727
- https://rocketreach.co/simbt-simulasyon-bilim-ve-teknolojileri-management_b44951cafcd35c4c
- https://theorg.com/org/simbt-simulasyon-bilim-ve-teknolojileri
- https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA465843.pdf
- https://www.simbt.com.tr/hakkimizda/
