Igniters Tech Law

Corporate M&A, Intellectual Property

Founder & Managing Partner

Aylin is the Founder and Managing Partner of Igniters Tech Law. With over 22 years of practice spanning Silicon Valley, Europe, and the MENA region, she brings a rare combination of elite academic credentials, deep transactional experience, and hands-on startup ecosystem expertise that few attorneys anywhere in the world can match.

A recognized thought leader in tech law, Aylin also serves as Chairwoman of Techstars Istanbul, Co-Founder of Heaventures VC, and an adjunct professor at Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Law, where she teaches startup and technology law. She sits on the advisory and corporate boards of several technology companies and is widely regarded as one of the preeminent technology lawyers in the MENA region.

Aylin launched her legal career in 2004 at an international M&A firm, where she worked on a $7 billion privatization project in Türkiye, one of the largest transactions of its kind in the region. She went on to advise Fortune 500 companies on complex M&A transactions across Türkiye, Europe, Russia, and the MENA region, while concurrently serving as an advisor to the EU Harmonization Commission and the Joint Parliamentary Committees of the Turkish Parliament.

In 2010, Aylin relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue her LL.M. and J.S.D./Ph.D. in technology law at UC Berkeley School of Law both with High Honors. During the decade she spent in the United States, she immersed herself in the Silicon Valley ecosystem, advising startups and investors, helping establish government- and privately-backed incubation centers and accelerator programs, and serving as a Graduate Student Researcher at both Berkeley Law and Berkeley's Department of Political Science. She also served as a visiting professor at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich and as a legal professional at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the nation's leading digital rights organization. She has contributed as an editor and associate editor to several prestigious legal publications, including the Berkeley Technology Law Journal – the most cited tech law journal in the USA, and has published peer-reviewed scholarship spanning technology law, international law, business law, and political science.

Her practice today covers the full spectrum of what technology-driven companies and investors need: corporate structuring, intellectual property, venture capital financings, M&A, and open innovation advisory for governments and multinational corporations alike. Clients range from early-stage startups to established global enterprises all of whom benefit from her uniquely global perspective and her ability to navigate legal and business landscapes across multiple jurisdictions with precision and strategic insight.

Turkish, English

Marmara University School of Law, LL.B.

UC Berkeley School of Law, LL.M. with High Honors

UC Berkeley School of Law, J.S.D./Ph.D. with High Honors

On a personal note, Aylin is a mother of two, a former Turkish national dance champion, a Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition champion, a passionate nature enthusiast, and a committed supporter of charities advancing the well-being of women and children living in poverty.