Türkiye drew $700M in early-stage tech investments in 2023: Official

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) – Türkiye drew over $700 million in early-stage technology investments in 2023, signaling a growing interest among international investors in the country’s burgeoning tech sector, according to Burak Daglioglu, head of the Turkish Presidency’s Investment Office.

In an interview with Anadolu, Daglioglu said there is an increasing desire among global investors to identify promising technology ventures in Türkiye that could potentially expand into neighboring regions.

He also highlighted the pivotal role played by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European venture capital firm Truffle Capital through their significant investments in Turkish financial technology firm DG Pays.

“This is very exciting for us. Truffle Capital is a well-known fund that invests in fintech in Europe. This is their first step into Türkiye,” he said.

Daglioglu emphasized that there is a growing recognition of Türkiye’s strength in the sphere of financial technologies.

“This is one of the areas we are trying to promote because Türkiye is very strong in this field,” he said.

Investors are especially comfortable working on this because we have competent entrepreneurs, qualified workforce, and a mature regulatory framework, which enables and supports their interest in financial technologies in Türkiye, he added.

Approximately 10% of all investments in Türkiye’s technology sector were directed towards fintech initiatives, according to Daglioglu.

The country saw a total of 325 transactions in early-stage technology investments in 2023, indicating a robust investor perception in the tech sphere, he said.

He said it is particularly important that international investors are able to access not only Türkiye’s domestic market, but also new geographies accessible from the country.

“Roughly, the country attracted about $10.6 billion foreign direct investment in 2023,” he said.

“Of course, it was a year where investments contracted a bit due to the tightening monetary policies of central banks worldwide. Even in this situation, we expect to perform better than global figures, which will become clearer by May.”

- Aiming for 1.5% of global investments

Daglioglu expressed optimism about Türkiye’s potential to attract more international investments, saying the aim is increase its share from 1% to 1.5%.

He attributed Türkiye’s appeal to its position as a regional hub for production, research and development, and entrepreneurship, driven by strategic policies implemented over the past two decades.

He said the manufacturing industry was a stand-out performer in terms of investments in 2023.

“This is actually proportional to Türkiye’s aim. We have become a regional center for production, R&D, and entrepreneurship with the policies led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the last 20 years,” he said.

“Türkiye has become a management center for international companies in the region. 2024 started well, and hopefully, we expect the investment momentum to increase throughout the year.”

- Growing interest from UK financial sector

Daglioglu also highlighted the strong economic relations between Türkiye and the UK, pointing to the $13 billion investment volume between the two nations and the presence of over 3,000 UK-based companies in Türkiye.

Regarding financial markets, Daglioglu said there is growing interest in Turkish government bonds and corporate debt instruments, particularly among investors in UK’s financial sector.

For 2024, he reiterated that Türkiye is anticipating a surge in investment momentum, buoyed by positive economic indicators and the expected easing of central bank policies worldwide in the year’s latter part.