Turkish Consumer Confidence Rebounded in February
Consumer confidence in Turkey rebounded in early February after a decline in the previous month. The Bloomberg HT Consumer Confidence Preliminary Index rose by 5.96% compared to January. The uptick suggests a potential recovery in domestic demand, which could benefit B2C-focused startups.
- The Turkish startup ecosystem attracted USD 5.6 billion in investments between 2021 and the third quarter of 2025, ranking 12th in Europe. In 2025, venture capital investments fell by 45% to $589 million across 306 deals, with no Series C or later-stage funding rounds recorded, reflecting a broader European trend. - Fintech and gaming dominated the investment landscape in 2025, accounting for 68% of all capital. Notable fintech deals included Midas, a neobroker, which raised $80 million in a Series B round in August 2025, and payment solutions provider Sipay, which secured a $78 million Series B in April 2025 at an $875 million valuation. - In the climatetech sector, weather intelligence startup Buluttan raised $1 million in December 2025. A World Bank report identified Turkey as having high potential in climate technologies among middle-income countries, though the sector currently receives mainly small, seed-stage investments. - The AI sector is gaining traction, particularly in defense tech. RobotEye AI, a developer of smart surveillance systems, recently secured an investment at a $12.5 million valuation. In January 2026, Brandefense, a digital risk protection startup, received a seed round from Yapay Zeka Fabrikası. - In healthtech, AI-powered startups are emerging, such as Mamosis for cancer diagnosis and Hop Health for medical tourism, though specific recent funding rounds are less publicized. Government initiatives like the establishment of a Health Valley aim to boost R&D and commercialization in this sector. - The Turkish government actively supports deeptech and commercialization of university research through organizations like KOSGEB, which offers R&D and innovation support programs for SMEs. However, challenges remain, with only 14.3% of deeptech startups in Turkey having secured investment. - For technical founders, popular Turkish online communities for tech-related discussions include Donanım Haber. Academic research from institutions like Boğaziçi University in natural language processing is also gaining international recognition. - The macroeconomic background for this activity includes an annual inflation rate of 30.65% as of January 2026. In its first meeting of 2026, the Central Bank of Turkey reduced its benchmark policy rate to 37%. The bank has revised its year-end inflation forecast for 2026 to a range of 15-21%.
