Istanbul startup directory
Explore startups, investors, and ecosystem operators in Istanbul, Turkey.
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500 Istanbul
500 Istanbul is an Istanbul-based early-stage venture capital fund established in 2016 by Enis Hulli and Rina Onur Şirinoğlu in partnership with 500 Global, operating as a distinct fund entity focused on Turkey and Emerging Europe. The fund raised a €30M Fund II and later evolved into 500 Emerging Europe, targeting a €70M raise for the broader CEE and Baltics region. Its portfolio of 37+ companies includes three unicorns — Insider, BillionToOne, and Carbon Health — with portfolio companies collectively generating over $600M in annual revenue and attracting $1.1B in follow-on funding. The fund backs pre-seed to seed-stage startups with typical cheques from €200K to €3M.
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Ângelo Vicente
Founder and CEO of Selia Fullcommerce, an e-commerce and fullcommerce services company. He is an announced speaker at the IGEXX Istanbul Global E-Export Summit 2026.
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Bek Ventures
Bek Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm backing exceptional founders with roots in Europe, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey. Founded in 2013 as the Earlybird Digital East Fund and rebranded to Bek Ventures in late 2024, the firm manages roughly $600 million across its funds, including a $250 million Fund III closed in 2024. Led by managing partner Cem Sertoglu and with offices in Istanbul, London, and New York, the Turkish-founded team has generated billions of dollars in returns over the past decade and is associated with one of the greatest venture investments in European history. Bek Ventures backs technical founders building global category leaders, with around half of its portfolio companies operating from the United States.
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Bijna Kotak Dasani
Managing Director at Arthaum Group, working across finance, technology and strategic advisory. She is an announced speaker at Eurasia Tech Week 2026 in Istanbul.
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Colendi
Fintech ecosystem providing AI-driven credit scoring, micro-credit, BNPL and investment services to consumers, plus B2B Banking-as-a-Service infrastructure for third parties.
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Data Center Eurasia (October 2026)
The second edition of Data Center Eurasia is an international exhibition and conference at the Istanbul Expo Center covering data centre infrastructure, cloud solutions, cybersecurity, energy efficiency and cooling, AI-powered data management, DCIM and green energy. The inaugural 2025 event drew around 4,000 visitors from 39 countries, and the conference features panels from companies, public institutions, investors and academics.
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Diffusion Capital Partners
Diffusion Capital Partners (DCP) is Istanbul's leading deep-tech focused venture capital fund manager, with a team that began operations in 2007 and the fund formally established in 2015. DCP closed its first fund at €37M and launched a second fund targeting €35M, backing startups in BioTech, AgroTech, CleanTech, Robotics, Material Science, and Nanotechnology across Turkey and the broader region. The firm has made over 44 investments, primarily at Seed and early Series A stages with initial tickets typically below €500K. DCP's cumulative team experience spans over 70 years in high-tech sectors, offering portfolio companies business development, legal, and operational support alongside capital.
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Dream Games
Dream Games is an Istanbul-based mobile gaming studio founded in 2019 by five industry veterans from Peak Games and Zynga — Soner Aydemir, Ikbal Namli, Eren Shea, Hasan Yilmaz, and Serdar Yilmaz — who decided to bet the studio's entire future on shipping a single, highly polished casual puzzle title rather than the portfolio approach favored by most publishers. That title, Royal Match, launched in 2021 and became one of the highest-grossing mobile games in the world, reportedly generating in the billions of dollars in annual in-app revenue and holding steady top-5 grossing positions on both iOS and Android across multiple major markets. The studio raised over USD 450 million from Index Ventures, Makers Fund, Balderton, and others at valuations above USD 2.75 billion, making it one of the most valuable private gaming companies in Europe. Dream Games is the clearest contemporary example of Turkish mobile-gaming craft scaling into a global consumer business while staying headquartered in Istanbul.
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Emre İlban
CEO of Clickmelive, a live-commerce and digital sales technology company. He is an announced speaker at the IGEXX Istanbul Global E-Export Summit 2026.
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Esas Ventures
Esas Ventures is the venture capital arm of Esas Holding, Turkey's largest family-owned investment group backed by the Şevket Sabancı family, founders of the Sabancı Holding conglomerate. Founded in 2018 and operating from Istanbul with a London presence, the fund has built a portfolio of 38+ companies including four unicorns, with Getir, Deel, and Misfits Market among its most notable exits and holdings. The firm invests primarily at Seed and Series A stages in B2B SaaS, marketplaces, and consumer tech, with a global mandate spanning Turkey, the US, and Europe. Esas Ventures backed Insider through its $500M Series E led by General Atlantic, underscoring its capacity for large follow-on rounds.
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Eurasia Tech Week (October 2026)
Eurasia Tech Week (ETW) is a B2B technology exhibition and conference at the Istanbul Congress Center bringing together technology companies, investors and industry leaders across the Eurasian region. The programme spans telecommunications and connectivity, fintech and payments, consumer technology, data centre and cloud, and a deep-tech and startup zone, combined with keynote panels, B2B networking and startup pitch competitions.
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Fimple
Cloud-native, API-first core banking platform offering Financial Functions as a Service, with composable lending, deposits, payments and treasury modules for banks and financial institutions.
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GDG DevFest Istanbul 2026
One of the largest Google Developer Group events in Europe, drawing 1,500+ developers for sessions on Android, Flutter, cloud, and machine learning. Istanbul's massive developer community makes this a key hiring and community-building event for tech companies expanding to Turkey.
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Genfairs
Istanbul-based exhibition organiser running Eurasia Tech Week (ETW) at the Istanbul Congress Center, a B2B technology exhibition and conference bringing together technology companies, investors and industry leaders across the Eurasian region, with tracks on connectivity, fintech, consumer tech, data centres and a deep-tech and startup zone.
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Getir
Getir is an Istanbul-founded ultra-fast grocery and delivery platform that pioneered the 10-minute delivery model before it became a global phenomenon. Founded in 2015 by Nazim Salur, the company built a vertically integrated dark-store and courier network across Turkey before expanding to the UK, Germany, Netherlands, US, and other markets. At its peak Getir raised over $1.8 billion and reached a valuation above $11 billion, making it Turkey's most highly valued startup. The company later consolidated operations and refocused on profitable core markets, representing both the ambition and the operational challenges of the rapid delivery category in Europe.
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GITEX AI Türkiye 2026
Inaugural Türkiye edition of the global GITEX brand at Istanbul Expo Center, convening AI, cybersecurity, fintech, cloud, e-commerce, and data-center leaders, backed by Türkiye's Ministry of Industry & Technology and Dubai World Trade Centre.
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Grand Games
Mobile gaming studio building hybrid-casual puzzle titles such as Magic Sort and Block Out, run via a multi-studio model. Surpassed 50M downloads across 200+ countries within two years.
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Gürkan Gürbüz
Vice Chairman of Horoz Logistics, a major logistics and supply-chain operator supporting cross-border e-export. He is an announced speaker at the IGEXX Istanbul Global E-Export Summit 2026.
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Hasan Önal
Head of the E-Export, Digital Marketing and Disruptive Technologies Department at the Ministry of Trade of Türkiye. He is an announced speaker at the IGEXX Istanbul Global E-Export Summit 2026.
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Hazal Maraş Tunçer
CEO of Ozon Global Türkiye, leading the marketplace's expansion for Turkish exporters. She is an announced speaker at the IGEXX Istanbul Global E-Export Summit 2026.
