Business Ecosystem

Istanbul is an excellent location for startups in the Social and Leisure, eCommerce and Retail, and Education sectors. On the StartupBlink Map, there is an example of 110 Social & Leisure startup companies in Istanbul, 54 Ecommerce and Retail startups in Istanbul, and 49 Education startups in Istanbul, representing the most popular industries in Istanbul. Also, there is an example of 351 startups in Istanbul, five accelerators in Istanbul, two coworking spaces in Istanbul, three organizations in Istanbul, and 1 leader in Istanbul on the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Map.

According to statistics collected by startup monitor startups.watch, Turkey ranked among Europe's Top 10 countries in terms of the influx of foreign angel and enterprise capital investments from January to March. Only Israel ranked higher in the Middle Eastern and North Africa region. Furthermore, Istanbul's rise has continued, with the city ranking seventh among European cities receiving the most funding in the first period of 2021, according to the data. Notwithstanding the disease outbreak, the January-March period witnessed another record duration for the Turkish startup business ecosystem, picking up where it left off in 2020.

According to the startups.watch data, financing deals worth $509 million were created in 62 rounds during the specified period, with quick delivery startup Getir and Dream Games moving ahead. The Getir achieved a turnover of $428 million in two funding rounds during the first quarter, with $128 million raised in January and $300 million raised in March. The recent round prized the startup at $2.6 billion, making it Turkey's second unicorn (a term for startups worth more than $1 billion).

There is a lot of interest in gaming startups.

Istanbul sustained its lead in the startups.watch by cities ranking. In the first quarter of 2021, 49 of the 62 investments were decided to make in ventures based in the city. The vibrancy in the gaming world has continued following the great sales agreements of Peak and Rollic in 2020. From January to March, 15 gaming companies set records after receiving investments totaling $60 million.

Dream Games, which came in second after The Getir in the first period, received the most funding in a single round, totaling $50 million. Brew Games, once again, was among the gaming startups that gained substantial seed funding.

The Interest Of Institutions Grows

Following the implementation of new regulations, institutional investments increased in tandem with institutional investors' growing interest in Turkey's venture ecosystem. Banks have also attracted investment interest. The Getir received the lion's share of the investments, in addition to fintech investments. Corporate investment company Finberg's participation in Getir's $128 million financial tours resulted in $154 million in investments in eighteen funding rounds from January to March. In the first quarter, Alesta Yatrm became the corporate investment firm with the highest investment.

Communicating at the startups.watch the web-based event, Alesta Yatrm co-founder Ibrahim stated that the company has invested in thirty-nine different startup companies and that the number grows to fifty by the end of the year. Ibrahim emphasized that they invested in early-stage startups with Alesta, growth-stage startups with Escort, and crowdfunding startups with another investment firm