H1 Turkey Venture Report: Are there investment opportunities for cross-pollination from MENA?
In H1 2020, Turkey’s total VC funding reached the record-high levels for a half-year period ($80M) since 2015, indicating healthy development of its startup ecosystem despite the global economic backdrop caused by COVID-19.
What challenges and opportunities does Turkey’s tech market represent for MENA-based investors as well as startups?
MAGNiTT’s H1 Turkey Venture Investment Report provides an in-depth analysis of the Turkish startup ecosystem.
Funding Evolution: The Turkish startup ecosystem continued to show healthy growth in H1 2020
In H1 2020, the total VC funding reached a record-high $80M, accounting for almost 80% of total funding in FY 2019.
However, investment deals (29) were down by 51% from H1 2019. This consolidation was partly a function of investors skewing to favor large-ticket investments in more established startups against the backdrop of COVID-19 - a trend that was consistent with MENA’s startup ecosystem in H1 2020.
The Turkish Venture Capital market is more consolidated than that of in MENA
The top 5 disclosed funding rounds in H1 2020 accounted for more than 84% of total funding in the first 6 months in Turkey's startup ecosystem compared to 49% across MENA. 
This funding was largely attributable to three series A rounds in Getir ($38M), SOR’UN ($9.5M), and Akinon ($5.7M).
Which tech sector is the most attractive in Turkey Compared to MENA?
The breakdown by industry in Turkey was consistent with emerging venture markets, with E-Commerce ranking first by the number of deals, and Delivery & Transport taking home the lion’s share in terms of funding.
Unlike other venture capital markets, the Turkish startup ecosystem included Deep Tech ventures in the top 5 investments both by the number of deals (10%) and capital invested (11%).
Interested to learn more about Turkey’s startup ecosystem? To empower your investment and business development decisions with data, download MAGNiTT’s H1 Turkey Venture Investment Report.