Continuing our journey across the European startup & VC ecosystem, it is time to stop by Turkey, which ranks 46th in the Global startup ranking and recently has been put on a path of accelerated growth with the startup scene gaining more momentum than ever. We have already covered key institutions boosting entrepreneurship in the region, such as VC funds and accelerators, and now it is time to look closer at the most fascinating early-stage innovative companies developing their solutions in Turkey.
Altogic
First on the list, Altogic is an Istanbul-based seed-stage startup, that develops an innovative backend-as-a-service platform for developers and businesses to design, deploy and manage scalable backend apps and make it faster and easier. It’s an all-rounded and comprehensive solution that includes graphical service development, a fully managed backend cloud infrastructure, and capabilities for scaling accommodation - businesses can start small and grow their infrastructure on Altogic, without worrying about security or logistics. The platform’s users can also create an MVP with an actual backend to test their product ideas and iterate quickly on feedback. The proposed solution also offers secure authentication, CRUD operations, document management, data caching, and much more. On top of all that - developers have flexibility in choosing the right way to operate - developing functions with no code or handling complex requirements with full code. In April 2022, Altogic raised $1,000,000 in a seed round from 500 Istanbul and ScaleX Ventures.
Midas
Midas is the first Turkish neobroker, founded in 2020, which provides its users zero-commission access to Turkish and American stocks. The company’s mission is to make investing fair and accessible to all, without lower limits or any specific privileges. Users can easily trade stocks from NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), one of the largest stock exchanges in America, and from all Turkish companies listed in Borsa Istanbul. Those with the Midas account can benefit from a small transaction fee, advanced account security, and the possibility to buy and sell also fractional shares. Moreover, Midas also offers free access to live data, fresh from the American stock exchanges.
Kavaken
Kavaken is a seed-stage startup based in Istanbul, that develops artificial intelligence solutions to empower asset owners and help them maximize the value of their assets in a data-centric manner. This solution extracts additional value from renewable energy assets and increases green energy flowing into people’s homes, offices, shops, and factories. The plant owners can access greater efficiencies and minimize running risks through production forecasting and predictive maintenance modules. Kavaken’s goal is to use data as a vital tool in the fight against climate deterioration and make use of it in order to contribute to a more sustainable future. So far they have accessed more than 12000 years of data, connecting 65 plants with 2.5 GW of capacity.
LIVAD
LIVAD is a cutting-edge live stream monetization solution, founded in 2020 in Istanbul. The product is dedicated to brands as well as individual streamers, that can conveniently monetize their live streams with non-intrusive video ads, displaying brands’ visual assets on streamers’ screens without interrupting the stream. Additionally, LIVAD offers brands the possibility to leverage the power of smart livestream marketing and reach their target audience authentically and at a scale. The company has also developed an AI-powered algorithm that automatically finds the best moments for ads to be displayed. In 2021 LIVAD has secured a total of $400K in seed funding.
Earnado
Earnado is a seed startup originating from Istanbul, that allows freelancer and SMEs to grow their businesses online through its innovative digital marketing system. Its users can access industry-specific marketing roadmaps and get an opportunity to scale faster, more efficiently, and enter international markets more quickly. It was founded in 2020 and already has more than 200 customers, across 15 countries. Amongst the services offered by Earnado, there are social media management, SEO, and ads management as well as web analysis - all based on an algorithm, making digital marketing strategies and individual action plans attributed to market data.
Yolda
Yolda is a logistics company founded in 2020, that develops its extensive service proposition based on advanced tech, data analytics, logistics infrastructure, and supply chain expertise. Its trackable system optimized for security is dedicated to both LTL and FTL shipments, offering users real-time pricing with guaranteed capacity, favourable insurance as well as delivery options with flexible lead times and cost benefits. Yolda’s product is a guarantee of reliable transport thanks to the advanced technology that allows customers to track their shipments, get detailed reports, and monitor payments. The startup’s latest funding round was in 2021, during which $7.7M was secured in a seed round.
Navlungo
Navlungo is yet another shipping company on the list, this time focused on e-commerce. It was founded in 2019 and so far has secured $600K in seed financing. Navlungo’s proposition is a logistics software that helps freight owners to see and buy hundreds of transportation proposals from various service providers in one minute. The company is involved in finding, purchasing, and managing logistics recommendations for the export and import of products. Moreover, users can access more than 130 countries and instantly obtain personalized expertise on the best carrying options, connect their stores to the global marketplace and also track all their documents and payments in one place.
Agrio Finans
Agrio Finans is an innovative fintech company that showed up on the Turkish startup scene in 2020, founded in Istanbul. Very recently, in 2023, Agrio successfully raised financing in a non-equity assistance type of round. The startup develops financial technology solutions tailored to the needs of all entities operating in the value chain of the agriculture market - including agri merchants, farmers, contractors, manufacturers, retailers, and more. The Agrio platform helps farming companies to manage their production, contracts, inventory flow, and treasury. It also develops a digital POS system with e-wallets easily accessible to farmers, facilitating participation in the payment networks. On top of that, Agrio's Value Added Financial Instruments are designed to decrease financing costs and increase the input and resource efficiencies of agricultural companies. Other financial institutions can leverage Agrio as a credit delivery channel and a data system for risk mitigation.
Robomotion
Robomotion is a startup operating in the robotics field, founded in 2018 in Istanbul. So far, it has raised $1.3M in funding to develop its automation technology. Robomotion’s solution is a comprehensive and easy-to-use RPA platform that helps companies automate their business processes quickly and efficiently with the use of software robots that can accurately carry out repeatable tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more value-added activities. Startup’s products are made for various types of industries, including accounting and finance, customer service, insurance, logistics, marketing, and retail. One of many hands-on cases of Robomotion’s technology includes employing it in CRM automation, which allows its customers to build a basic workflow linking the ERP and CRMs together in order to create an automated marketing system in a company.
Bimcrone
BIMCRONE is a construction management platform, founded in 2019 in Ankara. Its unique cloud-based solution creates a digital twin of the construction project, making all phases of the building lifecycle traceable, from planning to demolition. It is a comprehensive end-to-end tool, which ensures increased profits and efficiencies as well as proper coordination at all stages of the construction with its project management communication features, reports, and analytics. And it does so without any data loss risks as everything is digitalized and monitored and all data is collected and securely shared with project stakeholders, banks, insurance, audit companies, and other relevant institutions and organizations according to the role and authorization scheme.
Medialyzer
Medialyzer is an Istanbul-based SaaS company founded in 2020 with the goal to find new and more precise ways to measure advertisements’ impact on consumer behaviour. To do so, they developed a comprehensive TV analytics platform that provides campaign tracking and reporting, monitoring of competitor ads and competitive intelligence, cross-channel advertising integration, and more. Its ingenious video recognition technology detects TV broadcasts and recognizes its client’s and its competitors’ ads in real time. Their AI-based algorithm can provide real and relevant data at any time needed.
Carex.AI
Carex.AI was founded in 2020 and in 2022 received $600K in funding in a seed round. It is a video-based software development kit (SDK) solution that transforms any camera-equipped device into vital signs monitoring device by applying signal processing and AI technologies. The solution was developed in the software as a medical device (SaMD) sector. It is fully passive, device-agnostic, and can measure core vital signs successfully and repeatedly with the same accuracy as the gold standards used for other FDA-approved medical devices.
Craftgate
Based in Istanbul, Craftgate is yet another fintech on the list, developing a one-stop-shop payment gateway that integrates the virtual POS of all banks and e-money institutions into a single app. Craftgate has multiple functions to provide its clients with the most efficient solutions, its app integrates virtual POS payments in multiple currencies, card storage and recurring payments, closed-loop wallet, POS management with autopilot, fraud management, and more. All e-retail and marketplace merchants that receive payments over the internet, or from e-money institutions, can benefit from Craftgate’s value-added services.
SAHA Robotik
SAHA Robotik is an early-stage startup based in Kocaeli, which develops innovative robotics delivery technology. Their mission is to lead the change toward a future in which mundane tasks can be fully automated, and humans and robots can work collaboratively together. They have developed a complex delivery robot, specializing in room service in hotels, materials transfer in hospitals, and distribution of goods in complex buildings. They also manage a Speedy Market, an autonomous online market for buildings, with all products delivered by robots. In 2020, they raised a seed funding round of $380K.
ELYT
ELYT is a very recent addition to the Turkish startup ecosystem. The web3 company was founded in 2022 and specializes in NFTs, developing a metaverse exchange platform. ELYT's users can enter the new generation NFT platform through their social media or Metamask accounts and support their favourite influencers, collect NFT Packs and redeem their collections to receive unique gifts in the forms of both digital and physical products. ELYT's mission is to answer the biggest problems plaguing the NFT ecosystem, and they do so through the employment of innovative solutions such as the burning of redeemed NFTs which leads to the decrease of NFTs volume, increasing their value and rarity. Their solution is also a great entryway to the metaverse for those who are unfamiliar with this environment but wish to learn and participate in this system, even without the crypto wallet.
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