Turkey is one of the most promising countries for startup ecosystems. It has the 11th largest economy in the world (2021), moving up from 18th in 2003. It is one of the biggest emerging economies of the region with 5.1% average annual GDP growth. Turkey’s economic and social development performance since the early 2000s has been impressive, leading to increased employment, incomes and making Turkey an upper-middle-income country. Turkey, with a large young population, high internet and credit card usage habits, is the shining star of South Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In terms of location, Turkey is a well positioned attractive hub.
Prior to 2010, the Turkish ecosystem had little to speak about, but since then the ecosystem has expanded in terms of size, importance, quickly becoming a key regional startup hub.
The Turkish government actively supports startups in many ways. The government helps to grow and expand young startups by introducing new schemes for business constantly. We have also compiled a list of active angel investors who are spreading Turkey’s tech renaissance.
List of Top 25 Startups to watch in Turkey
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1. Marti
Martı is a technology company leading the fast-growing micro-mobility sector in Turkey. Marti aims to bring a new perspective to transportation, Marti continues to be a pioneer in the sector with its locally developed software, outstanding employees and millions of customers. While protecting the environment with its low carbon emissions, Marti offers a practical solution to urban traffic.
Industry: Transportation, Electric Vehicle.
Founders: Alper Oktem
Total Funding: $2M
Founded Date: 2018
2. Tarfin
Tarfin is a platform that allows farmers to compare the prices of the up-to-date fertilizers, feed, and other agricultural inputs in the regions where our farmers are located. The application provided by the company is available for Android users. Using its cloud-based platform and smart algorithms, Tarfin provides underbanked farmers with high-quality farm inputs and competitive point-of-sale financing.
Industry: Agriculture, Fin-Tech
Founders: Mehmet Memecan.
Total Funding: $6.3M
Founded Date: 2017
3. Yolda
Yolda is a logistics company that combines advanced tech and data analytics, logistics infrastructure, and supply chain expertise.Yolda.com combines the quality of cargo transportation with the diversity of haulier and the integrated service model of 3PL companies and offers a high-quality logistics experience by focusing on its customers.
Industry: Logistics, Transportation, Analytics.
Founders: C. Murad Ozsert, Volkan Ozkan.
Total Funding: $2.7M
Founded Date: 2020
4. Marketyo
Marketyo is a retailer’s e-commerce solution partner. It provides a one-stop solution to all your e-commerce needs to increase your competitiveness by digitizing your services into an online grocery provider. Marketyo implements an omnichannel strategy for your business to enhance user experience and support the quality of your brand.
Industry: E-Commerce, Logistics.
Founders: Niklas Ostberg, Ozer Firat.
Total Funding: $1.4M
Founded Date: 2015
5. OMMA
OMMA is a digital signage platform that is OS independent, cloud-based, real-time, and fully programmable. OMMA uses personalized video marketing and digital signage screens to help brands communicate with their audience with relevant, personal, and interactive visual messages both in digital and brick mortar touchpoints.
Industry: Advertising, Software.
Founders: Emre Corbaci, Mehmet Ozergil, Tolga Sen.
Total Funding: $1.7M
Founded Date: 2015
6. Volt Lines
Volt Lines was founded by Ali Halabi in 2017. Volt Lines is a subscription-based transportation service available for corporate users in Istanbul & Ankara. Just like Netflix and Spotify, an account on Volt Lines gives its user access to unlimited rides on Volt Lines buses.
Industry: Automotive, Transportation.
Founders: Ali Halabi
Total Funding: $7.7M
Founded Team: 2017
7. Scotty
Scotty is the leading motorcycle ride-sharing and e-commerce delivery company in Turkey. The app enables users to search for an available motorcycle taxi in the vicinity and book services from multiple drivers on the platform after providing relevant details. The company also partners with restaurants & stores and offers services for food delivery through its aggregated fleet.
Industry: Delivery, E-Commerce.
Founders: Tarkan Anlar
Total Funding: $5.5M
Founded Date: 2017
8. Colendi
Colendi helps consumers, merchants, and the financial institutions with its first bank-independent Credit Scoring, Micro Credit and financial services platform. Colendi is a decentralized protocol providing a democratized credit scoring evaluation method that comes attached with an ID to serve users as a global financial passport.
Industry: Fin-Tech, Artificial Intelligence.
Founders: Bulent Tekmen, Eray Eren, Mihriban Ersin Tekmen.
Total Funding: $2.5M
Founded Date: 2016
9. Tarentum
Tarentum AI develops solutions to critical business needs using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. It provides businesses and corporations with data insights that help them to implement end-to-end strategies. The company is specialized in technologies including time series forecast, predictive analytics, clustering & segmentation, NLP, demand prediction, probabilistic modelling, and behaviour analysis.
Industry: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning.
Founders: Oguz Silahtar, Utku Azman
Total Funding: $2.1M
Founded Date: 2017
10. ForFarming
ForFarming is an application that develops smart agriculture solutions by combining IoT, Cloud, Machine Learning, and Blockchain technologies with modern farming methods to make farming easier, more efficient, and more sustainable while increasing food safety and quality.
Industry: Agriculture
Founders: Levent Atlas
Total Funding: $422K
Founded Date: 2018
11. TikTak
TikTak was founded in 2016. It is an online application that provides rental car services throughout Istanbul. Users can use TikTak vehicles located in the service area within the provincial borders of Istanbul specified in the mobile application.
Industry: Mobility
Founders: Engin Beytekin.
Total Funding: $3M
Founded Date: 2016
12. Edvido
Edvido was founded in 2018 by Mustafa Okan Yavuzsen. Edvido is a brand development and digitization platform where companies and enterprises meet corporate digital agencies and firms for their advertising, marketing and software needs.
Industry: Advertising, Internet.
Founders: Mustafa Okan Yavuzsen
Total Funding: $596K
Founded Date: 2018
13. Popile
Popile was founded in 2020 by Kemal Tepret. Popile is a platform that allows celebrities and their fans to interact. Popile is an online gifting platform that brings together your favourite names with your most special moments.
Industry: Social Media
Founders: Kemal Tepret
Total Funding: $1.5M
Founded Date: 2020
14. Norma
Norma was founded in 2020 by Hakan Ali Gonca. It is an “ One-stop shop” banking and financial management platform for freelancers & micro-SMEs providing integrated products to save time and money. They are working hard to build a financial platform that will help small-business owners to easily manage daily financial operations.
Industry: Accounting, Fin-Tech, Financial Services.
Founders: Hakan Ali Gonca
Total Funding: $425K
Founded Date: 2020
15. WASK.CO
WASK is a digital marketing and advertising SaaS platform. WASK provides the ability to track and manage Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads and Google Ads from a single platform. Users can easily manage their advertising accounts from a single screen by connecting them into the WASK platform with just one click.
Industry: Advertising, Digital Marketing.
Founders: Ercan Pilcioglu
Total Funding: $675K
Founded Date: 2018
16. Fazla Gida
Fazla Gida is a technology solutions company that prevents food waste. Fazla Gida’s platform provides one-stop waste management, which covers all layers of food recovery hierarchy and helps businesses recover the best possible value out of food surplus.
Industry: Waste Management, Food Delivery.
Founders: Arda Eren, Olcay Silahli
Total Funding: $4.1M
Founded Date: 2016
17. Lotus Yoga
Lotus Yoga was founded in 2018 by Gokhan Besler. Lotus Yoga is an online yoga, meditation, fitness, and mindfulness platform that offers both audio and video content in various languages for users. The Lotus Yoga application is available in Android and iOS. Users can view unlimited yoga lessons in different styles and levels.
Industry: Fitness, Wellness.
Founders: Gokhan Besler
Total Funding: $3.7M
Founded Date: 2018
18. EasyCep
EasyCep is the company in the provision of high volume value recycling solutions for a range of hand-held technologies, with a particular focus on mobile phones and tablets. EasyCep is Turkey’s only consumer electronics reCommerce marketplace, providing the easiest, secure and fast way for consumers to buy certified pre-owned devices or get cash for their used electronics.
Industry: E-Commerce, Marketplace.
Founders: Ismail Dincer, Mehmet Akif Ozdemir.
Total Funding: $1.2M
Founded Date: 2018
19. Denebunu
Founded in 2016, Denebunu is a revolutionary data-driven digital marketing platform with a community of more than 1.5M members that connects brands with their consumers via technology, sampling and consumer insights. Denebunu has redefined the way consumers shop for FMCG & Cosmetics products by a monthly delivery of personalized samples.
Industry: E-Commerce, Advertising.
Founders: Duygu Akbudak
Total Funding: $1.5M
Founded Date: 2016
20. Genz Biotech
Genz is a biotech company developing novel solutions from in vitro diagnostics to therapeutics. Genz’s mission is to deliver a consistent stream of innovative, affordable, and accessible diagnostic solutions and make a remarkable impact on people’s lives. They are focused on providing sustainable growth and addressing the world’s pressing health challenges.
Industry: Healthcare, Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence.
Founders: Bora Kutun, Dia Akilli, Umut Agyuz
Total Funding: $684.6K
Founded Date: 2017
21. TIRPORT
TIRPORT is a Turkey-based startup, aiming to make logistics effortless to any shipper regardless of size and buying power. TIRPORT is implementing an innovative business model and bringing disruptive technology to a segment that has not been digitized yet. With that, it makes the productivity of the road logistics sector in the country increase in a sustainable way, reducing idle capacity in the truck fleets, increasing the income of drivers and decreasing freight costs for shippers and transporters.
Industry: Logistics, Transportation
Founders: Akin Arslan, Burcu Kale, Hakan Ozcubukcu.
Total Funding: $4.2M
Founded Date: 2016
22. UnoMoi
UnoMoi is an e-commerce platform that was founded in 2020 by Ayse Kefli and Gozde Atasoy. UnoMoi is an online platform for renting designer apparel and accessories with a monthly subscription service. This application helps women to rent designer clothes and accessories.
Industry: E-Commerce
Founders: Ayse Kefli, Gozde Atasoy
Total Funding: $400K
Founded Date: 2020
23. Tarabios
Tarabios is developing a mobile device to monitor blood clot times for Warfarin Therapy patients. Its patented mechanical measurement system can measure the viscosity of the blood on a cartridge with a microfluidic channel. The platform technology will further be developed to enable multiplexed, low cost, easy to use point-of-need tests for many more diseases.
Industry: Healthcare
Founders: Hasan Urey
Total Funding: $3.5M
Founded Date: 2020
24. Ango AI
Ango AI is a high quality data labeling platform. Ango provides fully managed, end-to-end data labeling for AI teams. With a scalable and professionally-managed labeling team, together with innovative human-computer interfaces and AI assistance, Ango delivers annotations quickly and efficiently while maintaining the highest of quality standards.
Industry: Artificial Intelligence
Founders: Gokalp Urul, Gokhan Urul
Total Funding: $820K
Founded Date: 2020
25. Papara
Founded in 2016, Papara is a leading fin-tech company based in Turkey. Papara provides simple and fair banking services without boundaries that a bank would have. Shortly, it is the future of banking. With over 9 Million Users, Papara is the most trusted and loved finance app both on AppStore and Google Play Store with a rating of 4.9.
Industry: Financial Services, Fin-Tech.
Founders: Ahmed Faruk Karsli, Ilker Diker
Total Funding: $2M
Founded Date: 2016