Akbank launches $100 million investment fund
MAJOR Turkish private lender Akbank has initiated its global investments in the entrepreneurship ecosystem with a $100 million fund through Akbank Ventures while implementing open innovation alongside corporate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs through Akbank Lab.
Speaking at the Annual Türkiye Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Event, Burcu Civelek Yüce, deputy general manager in charge of Retail Banking and Digital Solutions at Akbank, said Akbank Lab is open to all entrepreneurs.
“We established Akbank Lab in 2016 with the aim of conducting open innovation with financial technology startups from around the world, integrating innovation into our own structure and promoting an internal culture of entrepreneurship. We conducted proof-ofconcept studies with nearly 40 financial technology startups, bringing 16 of them to life. Unknowingly, millions of users are now using these applications,” said Yüce.
“We connected these startups with millions of customers and users who log in millions of times, bringing innovative solutions to our customers and the institution. This is an invaluable opportunity for these entrepreneurs. Additionally, we launched the Akbank+ internal entrepreneurship program. We invested $1 million in total, $500,000 each, in two entrepreneurs: Westlog and Volt. Now, we have started the second round.”
Regarding Akbank’s role as a global investor, Yüce explained that as of April 2023, they established a corporate venture capital company in the Netherlands, where they focus on investments in the global startup ecosystem.
“We have identified three general investment strategies. We can invest through existing private equity and venture capital (VC) companies. We can directly invest in startups worldwide. In 2023, we collaborated with seven different partners,” she noted.
“We can identify the areas we invested in during 2023 and will focus on in 2024 as follows: We strongly believe in solutions for sustainability. We are ready to collaborate with those who have solutions and startups in digital currency, tokens, generative AI, regenerative finance, and Web3.”