Turkey's E-Commerce Growth Attracts Global LPs
Turkey's e-commerce market is growing at an 18.19% compound annual growth rate, driven by high smartphone penetration and a robust fintech infrastructure. This digital expansion is reportedly attracting attention from global LPs, who are looking to back Turkish tech funds that can produce export-oriented startups with hard-currency revenue models.
- The e-commerce market's share of Turkey's GDP nearly tripled between 2019 and 2024, rising from 2.7% to 6.5%. Projections estimate the market volume, which stood at $90 billion in 2024, will surpass $100 billion in 2025. - A key indicator of market maturation was the 2024 acquisition of e-commerce giant Hepsiburada by Kazakhstan-based Kaspi.kz, a deal valued at $1.1 billion and the largest funding event in the Turkish startup ecosystem for the year. Total investment in Turkish startups, including acquisitions, reached a record $2.6 billion in 2024, a 423% increase from the previous year. - New e-commerce legislation that took full effect in early 2024 imposes stricter regulations on online marketplaces designated as "gatekeepers," aiming to prevent unfair competition by banning practices like self-preferencing and restricting the use of third-party seller data. The Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) is also increasingly focused on the digital sector, now requiring all technology-related mergers to be notified regardless of their turnover in Turkey. - Turkey's national AI strategy has identified defense, healthcare, and finance as priority sectors for development and application. The 2026 Presidential Annual Program further embeds AI into national strategy, proposing a formal roadmap for transferring military-developed AI capabilities, such as autonomous coordination algorithms, to civilian applications in logistics, agriculture, and manufacturing. - While Turkish universities produce internationally recognized academic research, the ecosystem faces challenges in commercializing deeptech innovations. Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) struggle with institutional hurdles, and a significant funding gap exists, with data showing 86.7% of deeptech startups have not secured any investment. - In climatetech, Turkey has launched a $1 billion initiative to modernize its national electricity grid, supported by the Climate Investment Funds, the EBRD, and the World Bank. The project aims to upgrade infrastructure to integrate an additional 60 GW of wind and solar capacity by 2035, a critical step toward the country
