Entrepreneurship ecosystem poised to close year with noteworthy performance

By News Center

Turkiye's entrepreneurship ecosystem has successfully increased its investment volume, sectoral diversity, and the number of women entrepreneurs significantly in 2024. In the first nine months of this year, domestic ventures received investments totaling $709 million, with fintech startups attracting the highest investment of $182.3 million.

Turkiye's entrepreneurship ecosystem is poised to close the year with a noteworthy performance. In 2024, the ecosystem demonstrated significant growth in investment volume, sectoral diversity, and the rising participation of women entrepreneurs. During the first nine months, domestic ventures received $709 million in 388 investment rounds. Of these investments, 81% went to nine startups, each receiving more than $20 million, totaling $577 million. Among the sectors, fintech stood out prominently. In 2024, fintech startups garnered $182.3 million, marking the highest investment amount of all time. Significant fintech startups like Colendi, Dgpays, Midas, and Sipay played a crucial role in achieving this success.

The gaming sector also showed an impressive performance this year. In the first nine months of 2024, gaming startups in Turkiye received $70.9 million in investments through 16 different deals. With these investments, Turkiye ranked second in Europe for gaming sector investments and became the leader in the MENA region in terms of both the number of deals and investment size. Additionally, the TÜB?TAK BiGG Fund has made a substantial contribution to the entrepreneurship ecosystem, providing financing for 228 out of a total of 247 pre-seed agreements throughout 2024. This made Turkiye the top country in Europe for pre-seed investments.

Moreover, the role of women entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurship ecosystem is rapidly increasing. In the first nine months of 2024, investments in women-led ventures reached their highest level in the past five years. With 111 deals, 29% of total investments were directed to ventures managed by women entrepreneurs. As of 2024, 31% of ventures in Turkiye are managed by women entrepreneurs.

The diversity of ventures in Turkiye is growing each year. Sector-wise, the service sector encompasses 44.1% of the ventures, the trade sector accounts for 36%, the industrial sector for 12.3%, and the construction sector for 7.6%. In terms of employment, 28.7% of the jobs provided by ventures are in the industrial sector, 28.4% in the service sector, 25.9% in the trade sector, and 17% in the construction sector. The data shows that ventures in Turkiye are largely concentrated in the service and trade sectors.