NEWSROOM

As the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the sectors continue, Turkish entrepreneurs continue to receive investments despite the pandemic. Investments made in entrepreneurs have increased 5 times in the last 10 years. Angel investors expect a second unicorn to emerge from Turkey in 2021.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
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ISTANBUL (TR) - The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic affected all industries in the world and caused pauses in the entrepreneurship sector. Despite this, investments in initiatives that are innovative products, processes and innovative business ideas in Turkey in 2019 increased by 62 percent compared to the previous year to 101 million 706 thousand dollars was announced. This figure was 19 million 142 thousand dollars in 2010. This year, although it was observed that angel investors behaved cautiously in April-May, when the pandemic was intense, the appetite for investment in the entrepreneurship ecosystem increased again in June.

Making assessments of the enterprise ecosystem in Turkey, Angel investor Murat Erat said: “There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs in Turkey, such as incubation centers, state-sponsored work. After the first unicorn Peak Games, investments with an increase in entrepreneurs in the recent period have also been on the rise. In this process, e-commerce, logistics and IoT technologies will come to the fore in the light of the developments in the software sector. 2020 may be the year of big investments, and a second unicorn is expected to emerge from Turkey in 2021.”

“2020 will exceed the previous year's figures”

Erat, who noted that Turkey took 4th place in Europe in the ranking of angel investments with 141 angel investors, said: “We can say that 2019 went well from the point of view of angel investors. With the organization of the World Angel Investment Forum, which took place in February 2020 in Turkey, it was predicted that incubation ideas would gain more importance this year than in past years. But as angel investors, who are considered a pillar of the investment ecosystem with the Covid-19 pandemic, began to approach investments more cautiously, a short period of pause was seen as a result. Then, with the movement in the summer months, the sector again gained a great momentum. From an investor and venture perspective, I predict that 2020 will exceed the previous year's figures.”

Istanbul is 80th in the list of global startup ecosystems

Reminding that Istanbul is ranked 80th according to the Global Startup Ecosystems 2020 List prepared by Startup Blink, Murat Erat said, “San Francisco comes first on the list, followed by New York, London, Boston, Los Angeles, Beijing, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Moscow and Shanghai. In terms of investment, we see that in 2019, startups in the United States received $124 billion, startups in China received $53 billion, and startups in India received $16 billion. Turkey also showed the world that it has great investment potential, with the sale of Turkish game developer Peak Games to US-based Zynga in June for $1.8 billion. These developments indicate that Istanbul, which ranks 80th on the list, will also quickly climb to the top.”