H1 startup investments carry Turkey to billion-dollar league
Turkish startups received nearly $1.3 billion investment in the first half of the year, with Dream Games and Hepsiburada joining the billion-dollar league that included Peak, Getir and Trendyol
FUNDING received by Turkish startups from January through June this year has carried Turkey into the billion-dollar investment league, according to startup monitor startups. watch data.
Figures announced at an event this week revealed that the Turkish ventures received a total of $746 million (TL 6.35 billion) in investments in the AprilJune period alone through 63 deals.
This brought the total investment amount in the first half of the year to nearly $1.3 billion with 129 deals.
Mobile games startup Dream Games in June raised $155 million in Series B investment round, the largest of its kind in Turkey. The round valued the business at $1 billion, making it Turkey’s latest unicorn – a term for startups that pass the $1 billion mark.
Hepsiburada, a top player in Turkey’s fast-growing e-commerce sector, saw its market value hit more than $2.8 billion following its U.S. stock market debut.
Rapid grocery delivery company Getir saw its valuation tripling to over $7.5 billion since March as it eyes to expand to several cities in the U.S. following its rollout in southern Europe in the first half of the year.
TURKEY RANKS EIGHTH IN EUROPE
Within the scope of the angel and venture capital (VC) investments, Turkey ranked eighth in Europe and second in the Middle East and North Africa in the second quarter, the data showed.
Comparing the April-June figures, Turkey has received more investments than many European countries such as Finland, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Poland.
Given the angel investment and venture capital investments per capita, $8.8 per capita was invested in Turkey in the second quarter. With this statistic, Turkey surpassed countries such as Italy, Greece, Portugal, Russia and Poland.
ISTANBUL AS INVESTMENT NETWORK
Istanbul continued to experience its golden age in startup ecosystem investments. Some 49 of the 63 startups that received investment in the second quarter are based in Istanbul. In terms of game studios, Istanbul continued to rank second in Europe, just after London.
Around 14 gaming startups received investment in the second quarter, bringing the overall figure in the first half to 29. The number of billion-dollar startups in Turkey has reached five with Peak, Getir, Trendyol, Hepsiburada and Dream Games.
Among others, five funds with a total of $91 million have been established so far this year.