Among the 13 Turkish companies supported by 500 Startups Istanbul are "Sinemia," "Bisu," "Paraşüt," "Olev," "Kolay IK," "Insider," "Carbon" - based in San Francisco, "Massive Bio" - based in New York, "Pvgna" - based in San Francisco, "Plum" in London and"Botanalaytics," "MallIQ," "MovieLala/MojiLala," which are also based in San Francisco.
Turkey ahead of Eastern Europe
In terms of technology investments, Turkey fared much better than many countries in southeastern Europe. However, compared to leading European economies like the U.K., Germany and France, the amount is still low. The fact is that countries as large as Turkey in terms of population and economy must set even higher targets.
Speaking to Daily Sabah, the founder of "500 Istanbul Venture Fund," Rina Onur, said they have invested in 13 enterprises after the July 15 coup attempt.
"Turkey deserves more for its engineering quality, but support of the investment ecosystem must continue," she said.
One of the most well-known venture funds in the world, "500 Startups" opened their first office in Turkey just a week after the failed coup attempt and has had 15 investment projects.
Having worked as an entrepreneur for a long time, Onur said Turkey was first on 500 Startups' radar in 2013. She said the entrepreneur profile in Turkey first began to clone international business models, but this needs to change.
"A closer look at all business that has been done in Turkey over the last 15 years shows that most of the enterprises were cloned from enterprises initiated in other countries. We need to come up with original ideas. Turkish engineers deserve more investments. However, it is crucial to maintain the support environment for Turkish engineers who are very good at dealing with new technology."
"The investments 500 Startups made in Turkey was long before it opened its Turkey office," Onur said.
More investments on the way
500 Startups Istanbul has made a total of 13 investments since July 22. "We plan to make five more investments by the end of this year or in early next year. Five of these previous investments were made into enterprises that were developed by entrepreneurs in Turkey. The remaining eight investments were made to enterprises developed in different regions of the world, particularly in San Francisco, the U.S."