Turkey is a dynamic and growing G20 economy, linking East with West. Similar to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the country sees on-going economic reforms and private and government support programs, which boost startup development and funding.
Recently, our friends at Startups.Watch and the Turkish Investment Office have released their State of the Turkish Startup Ecosystem report, which highlights the key trends and developments in the Turkish startup ecosystem. This includes themes such as investment trends, key institutions such as venture capital firms, accelerators, co-working spaces, technoparks and others, as well as key insights from industry stakeholders.
Serkan Unsal, founder and CEO at Startups.Watch, shares his insights about the the Turkish startup scene:
"In 2018, most of the venture capital funds focused on fundraising activities after having deployed their previous funds in 2017 and 2018. Moreover, many corporates built their corporate venture capital structures and entered the foray.
Not only that, startups founded between 2010 to 2015 have become attractive for potential buyers, including recently exited Trendyol for at least $750 million, and many other acquisitions in 2018.
In 2019, this acquisition trend continued. The exits of Foriba, Parasut, and Iyzico, among others, proves that Turkish scaleups are more attractive for potential buyers. I think this trend will continue and more scaleups will be acquired in the coming months."
