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Payoneer Connect Istanbul 2024: Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu on Stage with Mükellef’s Kenan Açıkelli

Payoneer Connect Istanbul 2024: Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu speaks with Mükellef CEO Kenan Açıkelli

On 5 March 2024 our Managing Partner Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu spoke at Payoneer Connect Istanbul, held at the Wyndham Grand Istanbul. He took the stage in his capacity as CEO of Clemta, together with Kenan Açıkelli, CEO of Mükellef. The session was moderated by Kavish Ahuja, Global Partnerships & GTM Leader at Payoneer.

Payoneer Connect Istanbul at Wyndham Grand Istanbul, 5 March 2024
Payoneer Connect Istanbul, Wyndham Grand Istanbul, 5 March 2024.

Three pieces of the same journey

The session brought together three steps that a founder or online seller in Türkiye goes through when building a business that sells abroad. Mükellef is a platform for setting up and running a company in Türkiye online, including its accounting; Clemta is a software platform for forming and maintaining a company in the United States; Payoneer provides cross-border payment accounts for freelancers, online sellers and businesses. Choosing where to incorporate, keeping the books and compliance in order, and collecting payments from foreign customers are usually treated as separate questions. On stage they were discussed as one chain.

The legal side of the same chain

Each link in that chain has a legal layer: the choice between a Delaware C corporation and a Turkish joint-stock company, the first 90 days of a new US company (EIN, bank account and tax filings), and the rules behind cross-border payments from and to Türkiye. Mümtaz had covered the Clemta side of this story a few days earlier in his Web Summit Qatar 2024 keynote.

We thank Payoneer for the invitation, Kavish Ahuja for moderating and Kenan Açıkelli for the conversation.


Selling abroad from Türkiye? Get in touch →

See also our Founder Academy resources for founders.

Author

  • Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu

    Mümtaz is the Managing Partner of Vircon Legal, which he founded in 2016. He advises founders, investors and operators on financing rounds, M&A, cross-border incorporations and regulated verticals such as crypto-asset infrastructure, fintech and games, bringing a former startup founder's perspective to every engagement. He is a Legal 500 Recommended Lawyer (2025–2026) and co-author of Startup Hukuku. Canonical profile: https://mumtazhacipasaoglu.com · Open-access legal guides: https://github.com/mumtazhpo

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Published: 5 March 2024
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws and practices may have changed since the publication date. For specific situations, please consult Vircon Legal.
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