Turkish game sector to produce 5 more unicorns in decade

By Bahattin Gonultas

HELSINKI (AA) - The Turkish video game industry is estimated to produce at least five more unicorns in the next decade, said the head of the EntertechIstanbul technopark.

Unicorn refers to a privately owned startup with a valuation exceeding $1 billion, Muhammed Kasapoglu told Anadolu at the startup event Slush 2024 in Helsinki, Finland.

“There are some seven unicorns in Türkiye as of now and two of them are in the video game business. I estimate that we will have at least five more unicorns in the field in the next 10 years,” he added.

He highlighted that Entertech aims to invest in 25 startups in five years with support from the Ministry of Industry and Technology and Entertech’s gaming cluster project with nearly 50 stakeholders.

“Some three to four entrepreneurs rule the world, and therefore, the ecosystem is very important and we have been establishing a fund to invest in startups and fund our own startups, as the entrepreneur goes wherever the fund is,” he said.

Entertech aims to bring video game firms and studios in a cluster to cooperate before competing, he noted.

- Entertech to open office in London next February

Kasapoglu stated that Entertech is the only technopark in which two research and development universities, namely Istanbul University and Istanbul University Cerrahpasa, work as partners.

Entertech is equipped with unique opportunities, as it houses nearly 100,000 students and 6,000 academics, he said, adding that it also has access to the two universities’ patents, projects, labs, and studies.

Kasapoglu highlighted that the technopark is home to over 150 research and development firms and over 1,500 engineers working in the field.

“We prepared a five-year strategy plan of how we can make our technopark more attractive, finding out why startups should come to Entertech if there were no exemptions in Türkiye today, and we identified three important issues,” said Kasapoglu.

“The first is internationalization, or lack thereof, because if we could help our startups reach abroad and find them investors and clients from abroad, we can provide access to financing there, and therefore, our technopark would be more attractive,” he added.

Kasapoglu added that Entertech will open an office in London next February in addition to the one in Amsterdam to bring entrepreneurs to the international arena. He noted that Entertech brought four video game startups to the Slush 2024 event.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul