Financial technology and gaming ventures remained the dominant forces in Türkiye’s startup ecosystem as they saw a record investment activity in 2025.
Turkish startups attracted a total of $589 million across 306 funding rounds last year, according to data from the industry monitor startups.watch. Fintech and gaming accounted for 68% of total capital allocation, helping the ecosystem maintain its resilience despite challenging global economic conditions.
While investors highlighted the growing importance of globally-oriented ventures, major Turkish institutions such as Türk Telekom, Işbank, Akbank, Sabancı Holding and Esas Holding continued to support the ecosystem through strategic investments.
Fintech sets new record
Fintech startups reached their highest-ever investment level in 2025, attracting $219.7 million in capital, surpassing the previous year’s $196.6 million.
With 39 separate funding rounds, the sector remained the ecosystem’s second most active vertical. Startups such as Sipay and Midas played a central role in breaking this record, securing some of the year’s largest deals.
Gaming emerges as flagship sector
The gaming industry followed closely behind fintech, raising $180.9 million in 2025 to become the second most-funded vertical. Turkish game studios continued to top the list of sectors attracting foreign investor interest, reinforcing their position as the ecosystem’s global showcase.
In a landscape where just seven startups – Midas, Good Job Games, Sipay, EasyCep, Cyper Games, Bigger Games and Getmobil – accounted for 62% of total investment volume, gaming companies stood at the center of capital concentration.
Meanwhile, one in every four investments in 2025 went to artificial intelligence startups, with 81 separate deals completed. Although AI led the market in terms of deal count, it lagged significantly behind fintech and gaming in total capital raised, attracting just $36.4 million.
3 new unicorns emerge
While investment volumes in domestically founded startups declined by 45% from the previous year, the success of Turkish founders abroad reached historic levels.
In 2025, the Turkish diaspora raised a total of $1.1 billion across 41 funding rounds, producing three new startups with a valuation of over $1 billion, or unicorns, Airola, Periodic Labs and Fal.
Among the year’s major transactions were Dream Games’ billion-dollar secondary sale and Paribu’s acquisition of CoinMENA.
Deep talent pool drives Türkiye’s investment appeal
Top names from entrepreneurship and investment gathered at Istanbul’s landmark venue Dotshub for the Startup Ecosystem 2026 Annual Meeting to discuss Türkiye’s investment climate, its artificial intelligence-driven transformation and its positioning in global markets.
Addressing the event, Burak Dağlıoğlu, head of the Presidential Investment and Finance Office, highlighted the rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into Türkiye.
Dağlıoğlu noted that $12.4 billion in FDI entered the country in the first 11 months of 2025, representing a 27% increase compared with the previous year, and said total inflows were expected to have reached $14.4 billion by the end of the year.
Dağlıoğlu stressed that startup financing and technology entrepreneurship play a critical role in this picture.
Technopark at heart of financial hub
Pointing to landmark transactions such as Kaspi’s acquisition of Hepsiburada, Uber Eats’ takeover of Trendyol Go, and Dream Games’ major funding round, Dağlıoğlu said these deals have helped Türkiye stand out positively among peer markets.
He added that the government is placing strategic emphasis on AI infrastructure, data centers and energy requirements, and said that a fintech-focused technopark established within the Istanbul Financial Center (IFC) will become a new hub for service exporters, offering advantages such as foreign-currency bookkeeping.
Emphasizing that Türkiye’s greatest strength lies in its human capital, Dağlıoğlu said that when investors are asked for the single biggest reason to choose Türkiye, the answer is consistently the same: visionary and highly skilled talent.
1 in 4 investments go to AI
Serkan Ünsal, founder of industry monitor startups.watch, presented a comprehensive overview of the ecosystem based on 2025 data. According to the shared figures, Turkish startups raised $589 million across 306 investment rounds during 2025.
Excluding exceptional cases such as Getir and Technological Research Council of Türkiye’s (TÜBITAK) BiGG figures, overall market activity remained broadly in line with the previous year.
The picture, however, was far more striking on the diaspora front: startups founded abroad by Turkish entrepreneurs, Airola, Periodic Labs and Fal, produced three new unicorns in 2025 and raised a total of $1.1 billion across 41 rounds.
Fintech investments stand out
Ünsal noted that one in every four investments in 2025 went to artificial intelligence startups, confirming AI as the fastest-growing segment by deal count.
In terms of capital, however, gaming and fintech continued to dominate, together accounting for 68% of total investment volume.
Fintech alone attracted $219.7 million, breaking its all-time record. Yet, Ünsal argued that for Türkiye to fully realize its potential, annual fintech investment should reach the billion-dollar range.
He also warned that the sharp decline in Series C and later-stage funding, which effectively fell to zero, has once again exposed the ecosystem’s most pressing challenge: the late-stage financing gap.
AI-backed EyeMo removes barriers for patients with muscle disorders
Türkiye’s telecoms and technology giant Türk Telekom has launched EyeMo, an innovative technology project designed to improve the quality of life for individuals living with muscle disorders such as ALS and paralysis.
Through the EyeMo software, users can control their computers and connected devices such as lights, air conditioners and televisions using only their eye movements. Patented by Türk Telekom, EyeMo operates without the need for additional hardware such as glasses or external cameras, making it both accessible and easy to use.
Gökhan Evren, deputy general manager in charge of information technologies at Türk Telekom, said the company views technology not only as a tool for innovation, but as a force for social good.
“At Türk Telekom, we pursue a vision in which technology is not just developed, but transformed into meaningful benefit. By patenting and launching EyeMo, we are offering a solution that makes digital life more accessible for individuals living with ALS and paralysis,” Evren said.
“EyeMo is a concrete reflection of our goal to make the opportunities offered by the digital world accessible to everyone. With this solution that eliminates barriers, we support individuals’ access to information and their independent, equal participation in digital life; through our human-oriented innovation approach, we continue to build an inclusive digital future for everyone.”
Accessible technology
Developed with an AI-based image processing model, EyeMo allows users to manage their digital environments using eye movements alone. The solution has been patented and made available free of charge.
Evren emphasized that Türk Telekom sees accessibility not just as a social responsibility initiative, but as a core pillar of sustainable digital transformation.
“Through our university-industry collaborations and R&D (research and development) efforts, we have developed EyeMo as a fully domestic solution and transformed it into a product with our IT teams,” he noted.
“By offering it free of charge, we support people who cannot use their hands due to muscle disorders in participating independently and equally in the digital world. We will continue to create projects that turn the transformative power of technology into lasting social benefit.”
Human-centric innovation
EyeMo enables individuals with limited mobility to interact more comfortably with computers, opening new pathways to information access and digital participation. By removing physical barriers, the software empowers users to engage more actively in education, communication and everyday life.
With initiatives like EyeMo, Türk Telekom reinforces its commitment to human-centric innovation, supporting people with disabilities in becoming more active members of society and working toward a future where digital access is universal.
Dataroid raises $6.6 million in pre-Series A funding round
Digital analytics and customer engagement platform Dataroid has secured $6.6 million in a pre-Series A investment round as part of its global growth strategy.
The round was led by Tacirler Portfolio FinAI Venture Capital Fund, with participation from Tacirler Portfolio Future Impact Venture Capital Fund and Endeavor Catalyst.
Founded by Fatih Işbecer, Elif Parlak and Can Elmas, Dataroid plans to use the fresh capital to expand its operations across multiple geographies, particularly in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA),
It aims to accelerate investments in AI-powered product development, strengthen its self-service analytics capabilities and scale its global marketing efforts.
Industry standard
Özge Atalay, co-founder of the FinAI fund within the Tacirler Portfolio, said Dataroid’s technology infrastructure, especially its solutions for highly regulated industries such as banking, is well positioned for international scale.
Atalay noted that the platform has strong potential to become an industry standard, adding that the investment carries strategic importance as FinAI’s first portfolio company.
Over 120 million users
Dataroid, a market leader in digital analytics in Türkiye, today shapes the digital experience of more than 120 million users worldwide.
Co-founder Işbecer said the trust of leading brands in the platform provides a powerful reference point for international expansion.
The company’s momentum has also been reflected in global rankings. According to the 2025 report by G2, one of the world’s largest B2B technology marketplaces, Dataroid was named the No. 1 digital analytics platform in the Middle East and ranked first in the “Best Support” category.
In 2025, the company closed the year with zero customer and revenue churn and achieved a 127% net revenue retention rate, underlining its strong growth trajectory.
Dataroid offers an integrated platform that enables companies in sectors such as banking, finance, aviation and e-commerce to measure customer engagement, conduct data-driven analysis and take real-time action across digital channels.
The latest funding follows a $2 million investment the company raised in December 2023 from Koç Venture Capital Investment Fund and Işbank 100th Anniversary Venture Capital Fund.