Startup Istanbul to Target MENA Startups with New $10 Million Fund

Targeting startups in the MENA, Africa and Asia, Turkey’s Startup Istanbul has announced that it is raising a $10 million VC Fund. The seed investor and event organiser will look to invest $50,000 each in 100 startups across three years, with a 25% follow-on reserve that will be deployed across up to 25 further startups. 

The announcement of the fund pays further testament to the MENA ecosystems, which continue to turn heads globally. 

“We decided to start the fund as we believe that there’s a huge, untapped opportunity in these emerging markets, and that the US and European investors are found to be not so much interested in investing in startups in these regions,” Burak Buyukdemir, founder and managing director of Startup Istanbul, said of the new fund. “With this lockdown situation, raising investment has been difficult for early-stage startups for the last year. And this is the reason that we are raising our fund to invest in them,” he added. “From the Middle East, we have been receiving startup applications from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, among others.”

For over a decade, Startup Istanbul has been a key player in the Turkish ecosystem, organising tech-focused events that aim to interconnect startups, investors and relevant organisations, both locally and globally. Prior to the pandemic, Startup Istanbul’s globetrotting ambitions saw them launch a remote accelerator programme that seeks the most innovative and promising startups across the world. According to the accelerator, some 700 startups have pitched via Startup Istanbul, 111 of which received seed investment, while 33 have been able to raise Series A and B rounds.

Find out more about Startup Istanbul on its official website.