Fintech and gaming startups raised the highest funding, while Uber’s Trendyol Go acqisition gained traction
Turkish startups raised $211 million across 91 disclosed equity funding rounds in the first half of 2025, according to a new report by startup intelligence platform Startups.watch. While fintech, gaming, and artificial intelligence remained the top-funded sectors, overall deal activity hit its lowest point in nearly four years.
The report highlights a continued bottleneck in startups transitioning from seed to Series A and B stages, a long-standing structural weakness in the Turkish market. The early-stage funding gap was particularly evident with only five Series A or B deals closed in Q2, despite 36 seed-stage investments.(By the way I have a story here about startups investments in Turkey)
Sipay and Fimple were behind the lion’s share of fintech investments, together accounting for 93% of the vertical’s $97.1 million total. In contrast, gaming investments were more evenly distributed across companies, with Bigger Games and Good Job Games leading large rounds.
Despite the sluggish deal count, international investor participation appeared to increase, though this was partly due to the declining number of total deals. Foreign investors were involved in just 17 rounds, seven of which were in the gaming sector — a vertical that continues to attract strong global interest.
Uber acquired Trendyol Go
In terms of fundraising, venture capital activity remained cautious. No new corporate venture capital (CVC) funds were announced, and only 45 new venture capital investment funds (VCIFs) were authorized, bringing the total to 499 — a sign of slowed formation due to increased fund size requirements.
Equity-based crowdfunding also lost momentum, with just 11 successful campaigns and only 12 active platforms reported. Meanwhile, female founder representation among funded startups held steady at around 19%, though women-founded startups made up just 12% of new companies in H1.
Istanbul, however, remained a bright spot on the global stage, ranking as the No. 2 emerging ecosystem in Startup Genome’s latest index, trailing only Lagos.
The M&A landscape was headlined by Trendyol Go’s acquisition by Uber which made up 81% of the $864 million in total secondary and acquisition transactions for the period. The Dream Games deal, involving debt and secondary sales, is expected to close in Q3.
