Türkiye’s technological capabilities, supported by the ongoing reforms and customized incentives, have altogether created a thriving startup ecosystem over the years. The Turkish startup ecosystem has all the key stakeholders in place, ranging from business angel networks to venture capital (VC) and private equity funds on the funding side, and accelerators to technoparks, mentors, and government agencies on the supporting side.
- Türkiye has a population of 85.7 million people, with a median age of 34.4, making it the EU’s largest youth pool.
- Türkiye boasts one of the largest talent pools in Europe and the MENA region with almost 1 million university graduates per year, including over 72,000 engineering and engineering-related graduates.
- Türkiye’s growing population is digitally connected and and highly active, evidenced by 57.5 million active social media users: 58.4 million on Instagram, 57.7 million on YouTube, 40.2 million on TikTok, 34.8 million on Facebook, 19.7 million on X, and 19 million on LinkedIn. Furthermore, Türkiye ranks as the the 8th largest market globally for mobile apps, based on the total number of app downloads. With these figures, Türkiye proves to be an ideal production and testing ground for technology developers.
- Since 2020, the Turkish startup ecosystem raised six unicorns: Trendyol, Getir, Peak Games, Dream Games, Insider, and Hepsiburada.
- The Turkish startup ecosystem attracted USD 5.6 billion in investments over the last five years (2021–2025 Q3). In terms of startup investments, Türkiye ranked 12th in Europe and the 3rd in the MENA region, with over USD 1.1 billion invested.
- SaaS, AI, MarTech, Grocery Delivery, and Fintech emerged as the leading verticals in terms of capital raised, while AI, Biotech, HealthTech, SaaS, and Fintech led in deal count in 2024.
- With the transformation of the TÜBİTAK BiGG grant program into a pre-seed fund, the TÜBİTAK BiGG Fund made 231 pre-seed investments in 2024 and 101 in the first half of 2025.
- Türkiye launched the Tech Visa Program, an exclusive initiative for talents with critical expertise in technology and for startups with innovative, technology-based business models. Under the Türkiye Tech Visa, we provide talents and startups with a range of privileges and opportunities that accelerate their integration into the Turkish technology ecosystem and make their lives easier in Türkiye.
- Regarding VC fundraising in Türkiye, 136 new funds raised USD 515 million in 2024, bringing the total amount raised over the past five years to USD 2.3 billion.
- Türkiye expects more unicorns to emerge in the foreseeable future with the backing of a mature startup ecosystem, a large and young population with high-tech adoption rates, an affordable and skilled developer pool, an increasing investment trend across diverse industries, and successful exits to global companies.
- International financial investors are much welcome to invest in the Turkish startup ecosystem, either directly or through funds to benefit from the next successful exit rounds.
