OUR FOUNDER

Sevginar Baştekin Chairwoman of the Board

Chemist Sevginar BAŞTEKİN graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Chemistry in 1988 by having the first degree. She started her professional career in the field of biochemistry at Biruni Laboratories in 1989.

She joined Diasis Diagnostic Systems company in 1993 and worked as Production Manager for 4 years. In the meantime, she was educated in Germany about the production of diagnostics.

In 2000, she stepped into the cleaning sector with her own R&D, designs and products. As a result of long-term laboratory studies, she introduced consumers to innovative products such as "Professional Stain Removers", "Stain Remover Wipes", "Roll-on Stain Remover"  with her own special formulas, while there are no stain remover products yet in Turkey. She has been awarded as first place in "innovation and desigh" category at the Private Label (PLMA) exhibition in Chicago in 2004 with a product she designed.

In 2010, she founded 1K Kimya with her husband Özcan BAŞTEKİN. In 1K Kimya Co., where she is the Founding Partner and Chairwoman of the Board, she started to produce innovative cleaning products under HighGenic brand with her R&D team, using her knowledge and experience. She introduced various innovative "Silicone Cleaner", "Sirkelim® - Vegan Cleaning", "Foam Oven Grill Cleaner" to Turkish consumers under HighGenic® brand. BASTEKİN, who develops more than 200 original and innovative formulationa, is also the inventor of the Silicone Cleaner, which enables the HighGenic brand to enter thousands of homes. Silicone Cleaner has opened a new category in the market shelves due to its high performance and high demand from consumers.

HighGenic Silicone Cleaner has been awarded as the "Most Innovative Cleaning Product of the Year" standing out among the giant brands in 2017 by Marketing Turkey Magazine.

Sevginar BASTEKİN was selected as "The Female Entrepreneur of Turkey" in the “in 2017 in a competition organized by Garanti Bank for the 11th time in cooperation with the Turkish Women Entrepreneurs Association (KAGIDER) and the Economist magazine.

BASTEKİN is married and has 2 children. While remaining her duty as COB at 1K Kimya A.Ş., she continues to developing new HighGenic branded products and formulations as a chemist at the head of the R&D department.