INSIDER BECOMES TURKEY’S FIRST SOFTWARE ‘UNICORN’

The software startup Insider is now Turkey’s first software unicorn with a valuation of over USD 1bn, having raised USD 121m from the U.S.-based private equity firm Riverwood Capital and venture capital company Sequoia Capital in a Series D funding round held by the Qatari Sovereign Wealth Fund. Insider has raised USD 168m in total funding to date. “Insider, which received USD

121m investment and has a valuation of over USD 1bn, has become Turkey’s first software ‘Turcorn’ (Turkish unicorn),” Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said on Twitter. Founded by Arda Koterin, Hande Cilingir, Sinan Toktay, Serhat Soyuerel, Muharrem Derinkok, and Okan Yedibela in 2012, Insider syncs e-commerce data across different channels, predicts future behavior with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and individualizes experiences on a single platform. The company boasts the highest possible time to value ratio. The unicorn, which moved its headquarters to Singapore, operates 25 offices on five continents.

The company has over 500 employees and works with over 800 brands.