Türkiye outpaced different European nations within the variety of seed stage offers from January via September of this 12 months, largely as a result of affect of the Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Türkiye’s (TÜBITAK) BiGG Fund.
The information by trade monitor startups.watch confirmed some 388 funding agreements price $709 million have been signed within the first three quarters of 2024, with 81% of that funding going to 9 ventures that raised $20 million or extra every.
Out of the entire, 247 offers have been seed investments, in accordance with the info. And some 228 have been backed by the TÜBITAK BiGG Fund, previously a grant and now a seed and pre-seed fund.
The figures, unveiled throughout an occasion in Istanbul this week, clearly present that Türkiye gives critical help, particularly for early-stage initiatives, and its intention to develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Growing sector range
Out of the 388 investments, 55 concerned company or company enterprise capital (CVC) buyers, signaling rising curiosity from company gamers in Türkiye’s entrepreneurial scene.
Türkiye now has 89 CVCs, indicating growing company participation.
The nation has seen notable progress in varied sectors, together with monetary know-how, or fintech, gaming, biotechnology, synthetic intelligence (AI) and well being applied sciences. The investments in these fields spotlight Türkiye’s openness to technological innovation.
Sectors reminiscent of fintech and gaming have significantly stood out with important investments to this point this 12 months.
The TÜBITAK BiGG Fund’s contribution to Türkiye’s management in seed investments is complemented by the rising curiosity of CVCs and company buyers, which is anticipated to drive the ecosystem’s future progress.
Fintech breaks data
2024 has been a record-breaking 12 months for the fintech sector, which attracted substantial investments, together with important rounds for corporations like Colendi, Dgpays, Midas and Sipay.
Globally, fintech startups acquired $28.5 billion in funding, with Türkiye accounting for simply 0.6%, reflecting room for additional progress regardless of the home surge in exercise.
Key traits
The TÜBİTAK BiGG Fund has been instrumental in three important shifts:
Support for ladies entrepreneurs: A considerable portion of the fund has gone towards women-led ventures. Out of the 388 investments made in 2024, 111 have been directed at ladies entrepreneurs, marking a notable improve and bringing the share to 29%, the best in 5 years.
Growth in AI: The fund has performed a pivotal position in supporting AI startups, with $14 million invested in AI ventures throughout 2024. AI continues to develop on the seed and early phases in Türkiye, with TÜBİTAK BiGG Fund main in AI investments.
Health and biotechnology sectors: The fund has additionally targeted on driving innovation in biotechnology and well being applied sciences, contributing to Türkiye’s strategic progress in these fields.
Second in gaming
With 16 offers amounting to $70.9 million in funding, Türkiye was the second-largest recipient of gaming trade investments in Europe within the first 9 months, simply behind the United Kingdom.
Although gaming investments have declined in comparison with the file highs of 2021, the sector stays a key space of curiosity because of its ongoing potential.
Number grows however quantity stays modest
Despite breaking data within the variety of offers, Türkiye’s complete funding quantities stay comparatively low.
TÜBİTAK BiGG Fund is taking part in a central position in rising the ecosystem, significantly in strategic sectors like biotechnology, AI, well being applied sciences and electronics. Besides, it additionally makes vital contributions by way of Türkiye’s international competitiveness, supporting ladies entrepreneurs and diversifying the ecosystem.
However, international investments have decreased, and the vast majority of exercise has been pushed by home funds.
“The investments of foreign investors in the venture ecosystem have decreased. Investment funds other than the TÜBITAK BiGG Fund remained silent during this period. While angel networks have grown in number, only two were actively involved during this period. Angel investment networks have remained silent. Apart from the TÜBITAK BiGG Fund, which has been involved in 228 seed deals, investments at this stage have been relatively muted,” startups.watch founder Serkan Ünsal mentioned.
“It is also necessary to divide artificial intelligence investments into two. It is necessary to separate the enterprises with artificial intelligence in their focus and those that are supported by artificial intelligence, that is, those that use artificial intelligence applications in their business. When you look at it like this, the total investment remained at the level of $ 14 million,” Ünsal famous.
Türkiye leads, main economies fall behind
- Türkiye: 247 seed-stage investments
- United Kingdom: 224
- Germany: 72
- Spain and France: 54
- Switzerland: 42
TÜBITAK’s investments not grant however stake acquisition
Elif Altuğ, normal supervisor and board member of the Türkiye Development Fund (TKYB), defined that TÜBITAK’s investments are made not via grants however by buying a 3% fairness stake in startups.
Addressing the startups.watch occasion, Altuğ burdened this method is designed to organize startups for future investor negotiations
She emphasised that Türkiye’s prime place in Europe within the variety of seed investments is not any coincidence, stating, “We have created structures that ensure startups receive support at every stage, from seed to Series A. We are working hard to equip startups with the skills to operate globally.”
She additionally highlighted that whereas the TÜBITAK BiGG focuses on seed-stage funding, the TKYB Upper Fund, established in July, goals to help startups past seed and into Series A and later phases by collaborating with skilled buyers.
Türk Telekom fuels Segmentify’s growth
Segmentify, an AI software program platform backed by Türk Telekom’s enterprise capital arm, TT Ventures, is gaining consideration for its AI-powered buyer engagement options. These options permit corporations to supply unique campaigns and merchandise to their clients.
Segmentify co-founder Ergin Eroğlu highlighted the significance of constructing buyer belief throughout his speech on the startups.watch evet.
“What we offered had no market equivalent. We created the market. It took time to convince customers, but once fully integrated, the system worked flawlessly. Each new customer helped us grow further. Türk Telekom not only used the products we developed but also helped us reach small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). They became more than just investors,” mentioned Eroğlu.
Beyond monetary investments, Türk Telekom Ventures and the TT Ventures Venture Capital Investment Fund help their portfolio corporations with advertising and marketing, infrastructure, and business growth, driving progress and international growth.
Segmentify stands out by providing AI options that improve real-time information evaluation, significantly in e-commerce, serving to companies create customized interactions with guests and optimize their advertising and marketing methods.
Founded in 2015, Segmentify now serves over 300 shoppers throughout greater than 30 nations.
FRWRD: Paving approach for startups in international market
Itır Ürünay Aydoğan, director of ecosystem and innovation at personal lender Yapı Kredi, emphasised the significance of enabling Turkish startups to compete on a worldwide scale, stressing their ventures program FRWRD.
Speaking about their deal with worldwide occasions through the startups.watch assembly, Aydoğan mentioned final 12 months, they participated in key occasions in Finland and Estonia, two nations which have made important contributions to the startup ecosystem.
“Now, we’re seeking to make an excellent larger impression by supporting entrepreneurs at a bigger occasion in Portugal. The WebSummit, which takes place in Lisbon this November, brings collectively startups from everywhere in the world. With elevated nationwide help, we imagine it will provide great advantages to our entrepreneurs.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com