Meet Turkey’s top three startup investors in Q1 2021
Q1 2021 was a record-breaking period for Turkey's startup ecosystem, as total VC funding in this quarter amounted to $650M, which surpassed the figure for total funding raised in all of 2020 ($387M) by 68% according to MAGNiTT's Turkey Q1 2021 Venture Investment Report. Furthermore, the country also amassed the most VC funding across all Emerging Venture Markets (EVMs), as comparatively UAE and KSA-based startups raised $134M and $82M respectively.
The number of deals in this time also rose by 81% when compared to the same period last year. However, what was interesting to note was that 64% of all investors in the country's startups were based in Turkey, indicating a bias towards greater participation from local investors.
With such internal interest in Turkey's venture capital ecosystem, here are the top three local investors who kept it Turkish, and collectively closed 12 startup deals in the country during the first quarter of 2021.
6 deals
Alesta Elektronik Teknoloji Yatırım A.Ş. was established to invest in technology startups with high growth potential. The primary focus group are startups that have begun producing products or services, which have existing customers and aim to grow, but also entrepreneurs that need financing to spend on sales and marketing for a ready product and/or service.
Alesta aims to bring capital, knowledge and experience to its partner companies to become successful startups that generate profit and bring them into Turkey's economy.
3 deals
Boğaziçi Ventures is a VC firm that invests in tech startups that disrupt traditional industries and are capable of developing evolutionary technologies, and engaging investors in these fields to make the ecosystem in Turkey grow sturdily.
Boğaziçi Ventures targets geographies in Eastern Europe, Turkey and MENA. With respect to industry focus, the firm has a particular interest in Blockchain, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of things, Healthcare, Security, and Gaming.
3. TRANGELS
3 deals
TRANGELS Angel Investment Network is a platform that contributes to the realization of projects by bringing angel investors together with entrepreneurs who have applied or through collaborations with their own venture projects. The TRANGELS Angel Investor Network selects promising projects and directly deals with the implementation process of the projects.
The goal of the TRANGELS Angel Investor Network is to deliver qualified projects with investment potential to both Turkish and global investors by collaborating with entrepreneurs and stakeholders.
Want more insights on the the Turkish venture space? Access more trends and find out who else invested in the country's ecosystem in our Turkey Q1 2021 Venture Investment Report