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In Turkey: Series C rounds / VC growth 10x
Turkey dominates world headlines, not necessarily for the best reasons. And, yet, good reasons exist. Lots of good reasons. Turkish startups continue to raise money. Inflows into Turkish stocks are on the rise. This isn’t just Pollyannaish, wishful thinking. Startups keep pushing things forward in Turkey. Total whiplash
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Build it and they will come
Times are tough in Turkey. That didn’t stop FinTech startup Iyzico from closing on a $13 million Series C funding round – BONUS: with international investors. Vostok Emerging Finance and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) joined yours truly, 212, in pushing Iyzico toward its goal of scaling up in Europe and the Middle East – and making it the largest funded startup in Turkey. “Turkey offers a very rich opportunity in the payments space,” said Dave Nangle, MD of Vostok. Growing emerging market = market of opportunity for payments. Boo-yah. (In Turkish).
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Akin Onal and Cam Miller saw a big opportunity in babies: bamboo-based and organic products. It’s all the rage in the U.S. and the UK, where Onal and Miller are from. The duo decided to scale up the idea, which they call MORI, from Turkey, where quality labor and materials is high and costs are low. That caught Dave McClure’s eye. And so, 500 Startups has backed MORI with $10 million TRY. |
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Making the movies great again With Brexit and Trump, one can only escape at the movies. That’s what investors are betting at least. Revo Capital backed Istanbul based Sinema, a movie club, with 15 million TRY. Early seed investor Aslanoba Capital and 500 Startups note that Sinema grew 14-fold in 2016. Certainly, a positive sign. Pass the popcorn. |
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Quiz! How much did Turkey’s VC grow? At the end of 2016, they totaled $25.4 million. That’s an 11-fold increase since 2012. Corporates helped increase the number. Big companies are taking risks on startups, particularly in the tech and healthcare space, as our own Ali Karabey pointed out. Overall, however, this tremendous increase is a result of a maturing ecosystem. The number of angel investors have grown as have incubators. Turkish universities are more focused on management, operations, and entrepreneurship. And, of course, all the Turkish VCs out there… |
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Bonus question: How much did those VCs spend? In 2016, venture capital firms invested $67 million in Turkey. That’s a record. Since 2013 VCs have put in $235 million in startups in Turkey. And it’s not all in e-commerce. While selling on the web was big ten years ago, Turkish entrepreneurs have started to dabble in FinTech, SAAS, real estate, and other service industries. Still, Turkey still lags the UK and other European countries in the amount raised and invested. Turkish startups still struggle in getting to Series B, C, let alone D rounds. Thankfully we’ve got Startups.Watch on it. |
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Add EBRD’s €1.9 billion to the mix EBRD is big on Turkey too. In 2016, the body had €9.4 billion in hand. It invested €1.9 billion in Turkey – and not all of it in Istanbul. EBRD knows there are big things going on in the Turkish heartland, particularly in healthcare and manufacturing. |
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Sizzilin’: Turkish stocks U.S. investors poured $29 million into the Istanbul Borsa. Overseas investors put in $103 million. Bloomberg reports that part of the excitement in Turkish stocks has to do with decreased expectations in price fluctuations and the increase in valuations. |
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Go East, young men and women! Dubai is hot. It has some of the world’s most-well funded tech startups. Thirty-two to be exact. Three are unicorns. You know about ride share app Careem. Last month we talked about e-commerce platform Souq.com. Noon joins to complete the trio. It is also an e-commerce company, which will make things interesting for Souq. In November, Noon raised $1 billion. RAISED, not valued. #boom |
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Digital marketers rejoice... Insider help marketers across industries create unique digital spaces in which customers can truly see brands in their way. This month, Insider launched Insider Blog as a genuine hub for digital marketers across industries where they can share ideas, success stories, tips and tricks on customer experience delivery. Subscribe now to receive posts about latest industry trends, expert interviews and best practices on reshaping how your customers interact with your brand across digital touchpoints. |
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By Numan Numan Innovation has been, without question, one factor behind the excitement about entrepreneurship worldwide. From the microchip to the iPhone; the personal computer to virtual reality, new technologies have pushed progressed forward – and transformed all our lives. Among the biggest transformation: social mobility. Millions across the globe have moved out of poverty into the middle class. That is certainly true in Turkey and its surrounding region. The biggest impact of the middle class? Spending. The middle class has fueled growth in consumer products, in services, on the Internet – and, most importantly, in payments. to read more, please click here
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Pull your plugs out (and then in). We’re all about podcasts this month. Here are a few that range from startup focus to just general curiosity
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Kleiner Perkins does an A+ job on bringing you 40 minutes of all the things you want to know about entrepreneurship. |
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Entrepreneurship meets storytelling (yes, this is Elmira’s recommendation….) Follow a startup founder through idea to scale. It will make you feel better about yourself. Really. |
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Malcolm Gladwell, the guy who brought us Blink, Outliers, takes us through various episodes of history – and the things they never explored. |
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2 February 2017Thursday's at İTÜ Çekirdek mentoring sessions - Ali will be there. 20~22 February 2017All aboard to Lebanon for ArabNet Beirut. Team 212 is on it. 23~25 February 2017Startups & Antalya, yes. Team 212 looks forward to seeing you at Startup Turkey. 25 February 2017"Bu Gençlikte İş Var" - which young entrepreneur will impress Ali? Tune in online to find out.
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“Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the results.” ― Oscar Wilde |
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