Take Off Istanbul 2025, hosted under the leadership of the Turkish Technology Team (T3 Foundation), the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and the Investment and Finance Office, brought together more than 500 startups from 40 countries and over 250 investors at the Istanbul Expo Center. As one of Türkiye's flagship entrepreneurship summits, the event highlighted the country's rising innovation ecosystem and expanding global reach. In line with this momentum, the Investment and Finance Office also marked the official opening of Take Off by hosting the Prelude, an exclusive gathering of investors and strategic partners featuring dedicated presentations at the historic Sepetçiler Pavilion.
Speaking at Take Off Istanbul 2025, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır underscored Türkiye's accelerating high-technology journey, noting the expansion of public–private capital structures, co-investment mechanisms, and supportive regulatory frameworks. The Minister highlighted that Turkish technology startups attracted USD 5.3 billion between 2020 and 2024—twelve times the amount raised in the previous period—and emphasized the country's growing strengths in AI, biotechnology, mobility, gaming, and digital transformation. Minister Kacır added that the strong international investor presence at Take Off reflects global recognition of Türkiye's momentum in deep-tech entrepreneurship.
In the session titled “Türkiye: Your Next Frontier Market for Tech & VC," Investment and Finance Office President A. Burak Dağlıoğlu detailed Türkiye's strategic efforts to strengthen its entrepreneurial landscape, reiterating the Office's mission of attracting investment and its longstanding collaboration with the startup ecosystem since 2015. Dağlıoğlu emphasized that Take Off is one of the Office's flagship platforms, designed both to inject capital into the ecosystem and to elevate Turkish startups onto the global stage. He noted that Türkiye not only participates in major international technology events but is increasingly hosting them, highlighting that GITEX Ai Türkiye will convene in Istanbul next year. Dağlıoğlu also pointed to the startinturkiye.gov.tr platform, which directly connects entrepreneurs with investors and features more than 70 VC funds and a diverse range of investment instruments. He further underscored Türkiye's competitive advantages, including strong tax incentives such as zero corporate tax in technoparks and no capital-gains tax on exits, and the emergence of the Istanbul Financial Center as a new hub, where a fintech-focused technopark has been established as a finance and technology center.
Take Off Istanbul 2025 once again showcased Türkiye's growing role as the nexus of technology, innovation, and investment, bringing together global founders, investors, and institutional stakeholders. As the Investment and Finance Office continues to strengthen Türkiye's investment landscape and expand strategic partnerships, the country is advancing its position as a competitive innovation hub for the broader region and beyond.