Turkey, located in one of, if not the, most central parts of Europe, is not only an incredible holiday destination, but it also boasts a highly conducive environment for startups.
The country’s greatest asset is certainly its location, giving companies based in Turkey easy access to European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. With its capital positioned half in Europe and half in Asia, there are plenty of interesting opportunities based on location.
In addition to that, Turkey also has a very young population, with about 68% between 15 and 64, 21% under the age of 14 and only 10% over 65 years old.
But the situation in Turkey is a lot more complicated than that.
What’s Turkey Like for Startups?
As of the start of 2024, Turkey is sitting in seventh place for Eastern Europe and 40th in the world, having jumped three and five places respectively between 2023 and 2024.
However, it hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies for Turkey, as it’s notorious for its fairly volatile political and economic situation. As a result, the Turkish Lira has been significantly devalued recently – although it’s experienced some serious ebbs and flows over the last few years – which has had some less than favourable results for the Turkish economy.
As always, this has led to a bit of a loss of confidence in Turkish business from the perspective of investors. Inevitably this tends to lead to brain drain (skilled and experienced individuals leaving the country and starting businesses elsewhere) which can be detrimental to the country’s economic health and startup scene in the long term.
Despite these issues, however, all is not lost. The Turkish public sector seems to acknowledge the importance of startups as major drivers of economic growth, and this has led to them attempting to implement government policies and programmes to support their growth.
So far, this has come in the form of mentorship programmes, financial backing and access to a broad network of ecosystem stakeholders.
There’s no doubt about the fact that Turkey has great potential to become a regional hub for startups, offering an excellent location for companies and entrepreneurs coming out of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It really doesn’t get much more central (in terms of Asia and Europe) than this, since Istanbul actually straddles both continents.
So, despite the simultaneous difficulties and opportunities faced by Turkish startups and entrepreneurs, it certainly seems like the country is still managing to produce some really successful companies.
A few of the most successful businesses based in Turkey, however, are the unicorns it’s produced, of which there are currently four that still hold the title. Of course, a unicorn is a business that meets two basic criteria – valuation of over $1 billion and private ownership.
Turkey’s 5 Unicorns
Turkey hasn’t seen a massive number of unicorns over the years, but Peak Games became the country’s first privately-owned enterprise to achieve unicorn status in 2020 with a valuation of $1.8 billion. The company later went public as a result of being acquired by Take-Two Interactive Software in 2022, so it’s no longer a unicorn. However, its success has continued, and Peak Games is now valued at $12.7 billion as of 2022.
As of September 2024, Turkey has five unicorns: Trendyol, Dram Games, Papara and Insider.
Trendyol: $16.5 Billion
Trendyol is an Istanbul-based startup that was founded by Evren Ucok and Demet Mutlu who ar currently the company’s co-CEOs. Launched in 2010, Trendyol is now worth a whopping $16.5 billion, making it one of the highest values unicorns in all of Turkey.
It provides an online shopping platform that is designed for use by a global audience. It offers a wide range of products, including things like furniture, home textiles, cosmetics, clothing and electronics.
Trendyol has been through seven different funding rounds and it now has about 4,000-odd employees.
Dream Games: $2.75 Billion
Established just over five years ago in 2019, Dream Games is the operator of a mobile gaming company. The business prioritises quality and scalability in the interactive games that it develops, creating a world of immersive gameplay filled with engaging characters and fun storylines.
Launched in Istanbul, Dream Games officially achieved unicorn status in 2021 after having received $155 million in Series B funding, led by Index Ventures and Makers Fund. This $155 million tipped the company over the edge, resulting in its $1 billion valuation, and now, just more than three years later, it’s managed to make it to a $2.75 billion valuation.
Dream Games was founded by Soner Aydemir, Hakan Saglam and Eren Sengul and it’s received funding from a total of 10 different investors during its five-year lifespan.
Getir: $2.5 Billion
Founded in 2015, Getir is an Istanbul-based startup with just over 20,000 employees that became a unicorn in 2021. Since then, its valuation increased significantly but dropped off a bit again after the company faced difficulties following the global pandemic. Now, Getir is valued at $2.5 billion, and although it’s not worth quite as much as it once was, it’s still one of Turkey’s highest-valued unicorns.
Getir is the developer of an online marketplace application that offers delivery services for groceries and a variety of other goods. The application allows customers to place many orders and make payments by means of their internal mobile payment service. Thus, it provides a safe and efficient way to make purchases without having to leave home.
Papara: $2 Billion
With just over 800 employees, Papara has grown significantly since it was founded in 2016. Most recently valued at $2 billion, Papara was founded and is based in Istanbul.
Papara is the developer of a payment application that allows users to make digital payments and financial transfers. People can use the platform to transfer cash, send money to mobile numbers and send money via email addresses.
Insider: $2 Billion
Insider, valued at $2 billion, is the developer of an online marketing platform that is intended to optimise marketing spending and target online campaigns. The company makes use of artificial intelligence and a unified data engine which individualised it from a single platform.
This allows it to enhance cross-channel customer experiences which enables clients to post campaigns with social networks and offer discounts. The discounts are offered to customers who are less likely to subscribe, so it’s used as a tool to bring new customers in.
With 1,300-odd employees, Insider was founded and is currently based in Istanbul. The company was founded by Hande Cilingir, Mehmet Sinan Toktay and Arda Koterin who are now CEO, CTO and CCO respectively.
