As the third quarter of 2026 draws to a close, Türkiye's startup ecosystem continues to flex its muscles in the face of global and regional headwinds.

According to data presented by Serkan Ünsal at industry monitor startups.watch's "Türkiye Startup Ecosystem 2026 Q3 Event" and the accompanying quarterly report, the ecosystem is holding its momentum thanks to the commanding lead of the gaming sector, new unicorn successes, seed-stage movement in artificial intelligence and corporate and tech park support.

New unicorn born in Izmir

According to the report, gaming startups captured 57% of the $274 million invested in Türkiye in the first nine months of 2026.

Large rounds from players such as Grand Games, TaleMonster Games and Circle Games pushed up total deal volume, and gaming remained the ecosystem's most dynamic sector and its saving grace.

One of the ecosystem's most striking success stories came from the western province of Izmir. HubX, an AI-focused app studio, became Türkiye's eighth unicorn, a startup valued at $1 billion or more, following its latest investment.

As the first unicorn to emerge outside Istanbul, HubX has once again shown that Türkiye can produce technology companies with global reach.

State support at seed stage

By number of deals, AI took the lead among sectors with 46 transactions. That 45 of them were seed-stage deals, the earliest round of external funding, suggests Türkiye's AI ecosystem is in a strong phase of building and setting up.

Venture capital investment funds (VCIFs) and government support play a critical role in backing early-stage startups.

With 74 new funds established in the first nine months, the total number of active VCIFs has reached 615, and one in every two investments involved a VCIF.

Meanwhile, the BiGG fund, run by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK), the government's main research and innovation agency, has become the main source of capital for pre-revenue startups.

Of the 42 startups that received funding before earning any revenue, 29 were backed by BiGG, which served as their lifeline.

OSTIM technopark model goes global

Derya Çağlar, general manager of OSTIM Technopark, said they represent one of Türkiye's most distinctive technology park models, noting that they were founded before the university existed alongside them.

"At OSTIM Technopark, we sit in the heart of industry, and through our Prototype Workshop we take ideas from raw material to finished product using advanced manufacturing technologies," said Çağlar.

She says they are not limiting themselves to the local ecosystem.

"We provide technopark setup, feasibility and consultancy services in Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and the Balkans, exporting the Turkish technopark and entrepreneurship model to the international stage," she noted.

One of world's best incubators, $25 million fund

Attila Dikbaş, general manager of ITÜ ARI Teknokent, the technology park of Istanbul Technical University, said they are among Türkiye's pioneering technoparks.

"With 423 companies, ITÜ ARI Teknokent ranks among the world's best university incubation centers and is forging partnerships that resonate globally," Dikbaş said.

"To give our startups a lifeline, we launched a $25 million venture capital investment fund, which supports promising seed-stage companies," he noted.

"We will keep bringing to the ecosystem startups that solve universal problems across 12 different verticals, from automotive to health care."

Türkiye's homegrown answer to phishing attacks: Zoka Suite

Zoka Suite, a Turkish-built cybersecurity solution, lets organizations test and train their employees and respond quickly to suspicious emails, while keeping data inside Türkiye and within the organization.

Softtech, one of Türkiye's leading technology companies and the software arm of Işbank, the country's largest private bank, has added Zoka Suite to its cybersecurity portfolio, combining phishing simulation, employee training, and the analysis and management of real suspicious emails on a single platform.

Under the agreement, Softtech will handle product development, while IşNet, an Işbank group company specializing in network and cybersecurity services, will take charge of sales, marketing and service for corporate customers.

By pairing Softtech's engineering strength with IşNet's cybersecurity expertise and broad customer network, the two companies aim to bring Zoka Suite to a wider corporate ecosystem.

Phishing attacks rise

The partnership arrives at a time when AI-generated scam emails are spreading fast, and it takes shape under the shadow of what global data shows.

According to Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), published in June, more than 22,000 confirmed data breaches across 145 countries were examined, and the human element played a role in 62% of them, up from 60% in the previous report.

The report also notes that attackers are using generative AI at many stages of an attack, including to craft more convincing phishing content.

IBM's 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report, meanwhile, identifies phishing as the most common initial access method in breaches.

Phishing was the starting point for 16% of breaches, and a phishing-related breach cost $4.8 million on average, above the global average breach cost of $4.44 million. Among breaches in which attackers used AI, the most common method, at 37%, was AI-assisted phishing campaigns.

One platform, end to end

Zoka Suite's Zoka Phishing Simulation module tests employees with realistic scenarios and automatically routes them to training based on the results, turning testing and training into a continuous learning loop.

The platform's Zoka Suspicious Email Management module automatically analyzes suspicious emails that employees report through an Outlook add-in. The system breaks each email down into its components, checks it against threat intelligence to generate a risk score, and launches a response process according to a predefined playbook.

The results of these actions can be passed to Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, the central tools security teams use to collect and monitor security alerts. Zoka Suite allows cybersecurity data to be kept in Türkiye and within the organization.

This lets institutions in sectors that demand high security and strict regulation keep control over their data. These include all institutions regulated by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), led by banking and finance, as well as insurance, the public sector, energy and telecommunications.

Holistic security approach

Softtech General Manager M. Bülent Özçengel noted that the human element still plays a decisive role in cyberattacks and that technical safeguards must be backed by awareness and training.

"By bringing phishing simulation, employee training and suspicious email management together on a single platform, Zoka Suite offers organizations a holistic security approach that runs from testing through to response," Özçengel said.

He added that, through the partnership with IşNet, the companies aim to bring this homegrown solution to more organizations and to keep developing Zoka Suite's capabilities to strengthen their cyber resilience.

IşNet General Manager Mehmet Fahri Can said the growing diversity of cyber threats is increasing organizations' need for cybersecurity, and that employee awareness has become one of the key elements of a security strategy.

Can said that by adding Zoka Suite to its cybersecurity portfolio, IşNet now offers customers a comprehensive solution that unites everything from employee awareness to the analysis and management of suspicious emails on a single platform.

Curtain up, barriers down: Türk Telekom's 'Accessible Theater' back for new season

One of Türkiye's largest telecom and tech companies, Türk Telekom's "Accessible Theater" project, delivered in cooperation with the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) and the Istanbul State Theater, part of the General Directorate of State Theaters, begins its fourth season.

Aimed at increasing the participation of visually and hearing-impaired people in cultural and artistic events, the project opens its season on Friday with "Ebedi Barış" ("Eternal Peace").

"Oh Ne Ala Memleket" ("Oh, What a Fine Country"), a children's play written by Şermin Yaşar, will meet audiences on Sunday.

Running since 2024 and guided by Türk Telekom's "Value to Türkiye" approach to corporate social responsibility, the project offers an accessible theater experience through live audio description, backstage tours and surtitles.

To date, more than a thousand visually and hearing-impaired audience members have been brought to the theater through the project. The goal for the new season is to reach even more people.

For audiences with visual impairment

Under the program, art lovers with visual impairments can follow the non-verbal elements of a production, such as setting, time, characters and events that unfold in silence, without missing any detail, thanks to audio description delivered in the gaps between dialogue.

In special stage tours held before the performance, audience members can touch the sets and costumes, getting to know the stage in advance. For audience members with hearing impairments, the subtitling system displays the dialogue as text on screen in real time.

Accessible culture and arts

Arif Sancaktaroğlu, Türk Telekom's deputy general manager in charge of communications, TV and digital platforms, said the company aims to use technology with a focus on people and social benefit, while bringing the unifying power of culture and the arts to every part of society.

"We are pleased to use the possibilities technology offers to help make cultural and artistic experiences accessible to everyone. Our ‘Accessible Theater' project, which has drawn great interest and appeals to age groups from children to adults, is coming to audiences at AKM again this season," Sancaktaroğlu said.

"We will keep developing work that touches different parts of society, brings the unifying power of culture and the arts to wider audiences, and creates lasting value. In line with our goal of an accessible life for everyone, we continue our social responsibility work with determination."