Zafer Ilgar

Zafer Ilgar is the first investor in MADCAD.com. Published in Business Week, Wall Street Journal, books and more, Zafer has become a respected figure in European media.

Zafer was born in Turkey and later relocated to Berlin, where he earned an Industrial Engineering degree from the Berlin Technical University Metallurgy. After graduating, he founded a business school which rapidly grew to 1800 students.

In 1989, he founded the Berlin media agency TurkMedia, and in 1991, the media planning company TMM. TurkMedia grew to four TV channels, including TRT, all of which reached 45% more Turks than all German channels combined. Both companies were later bought by IPA Plus, owned by the world's largest entertainment group.

In 1995, Zafer invested in Carat Group, Europe's largest media buying and planning company, to create Carat Turkey, where he served as Chairman of the Board. He sold his shares in 1998, and it is now a part of the global digital media and marketing company Aegis Group.

In 1998, Zafer invested in the International media marketing company IP Arbo Germany, where he brought the company to break even and sold it back to the major shareholders.

More recently, Ilgar has applied his intuitive knack for business to successful real estate ventures in Istanbul and Bodrum surrounding areas.