Istanbul Rising: How Türkiye Became a Global Leader Among Emerging Ecosystems
Istanbul is making waves on the global stage. Ranked #3 among Emerging Startup Ecosystems in the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER), the city has surged 10 positions since the 2024 edition and an impressive 13 ranks over the past five years. This upward momentum is no fluke — it’s the result of a strategic combination of infrastructure investment, robust public-private partnerships, and a rapidly maturing startup landscape.
From Promising to Powerhouse: Istanbul by the Numbers
The numbers paint a compelling portrait of Istanbul’s breakout year. Between H2 2022 and 2024, Istanbul attracted $551 million in early-stage funding, with a median Seed round of $487,000 and Series A median of $2 million. Total VC funding in the GSER 2025 reached $6.3 billion, a dramatic leap from the $2.6 billion recorded in the GSER 2024 — a more than 142% increase in just one year.
Exit activity has also accelerated: Istanbul had 99 exits between 2020 and 2024, totaling $4.79 billion, up from 77 exits totaling $4 billion in the 2024 edition. Istanbul’s total value remains robust at $12.9 billion, placing it in the Top 15 in Europe for Performance and Top 25 globally for Funding
Much of this surge in investment came in 2024, when Turkish startup funding skyrocketed from $497 million in 2023 to $2.6 billion — a 423% increase. The number of transactions grew from 297 to 331, signaling both volume and value gains. A pivotal moment came when Kaspi.kz invested $1.1 billion to acquire a majority stake in Ecommerce leader Hepsiburada, marking the largest transaction in Türkiye’s startup history.
These leaps forward are powered by strong institutional support. The Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA) has played a transformative role, convening ecosystem stakeholders and channeling funding into high-growth verticals. By aligning regional policy with national innovation goals, ISTKA has been pivotal in shaping Istanbul’s rise as a global startup destination.
Fast-Tracking Talent: The Türkiye Tech Visa
To fuel this momentum, Türkiye is making it easier for global founders and tech professionals to relocate and thrive in the country. The Türkiye Tech Visa — an initiative developed to attract world-class entrepreneurs and skilled workers — is a gateway for international talent seeking to plug into Istanbul’s vibrant tech scene.
Offered through a streamlined process, the visa provides a residency permit and the legal framework for founders, early-stage employees, and highly-skilled professionals to build and scale from Türkiye. The program prioritizes applicants affiliated with accredited accelerators, venture funds, or international tech organizations.
Unlike traditional immigration routes, the Tech Visa is purpose-built for startup ecosystem players. Successful applicants benefit from fast-track processing, access to mentoring and co-working spaces, and integration with Türkiye’s entrepreneurial support networks. By reducing friction for talent inflows, the Tech Visa ensures Istanbul can attract and retain the builders who will define the next phase of innovation across Europe, MENA, and beyond.
Terminal Istanbul: A Global Hub for Innovation
Among the boldest manifestations of Istanbul’s innovation vision is Terminal Istanbul, a massive initiative designed to turn the city into a global nexus for entrepreneurship, venture capital, and Deep Tech development. Backed by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and set in the heart of the city, Terminal Istanbul repurposes an iconic urban site — once the Ataturk Airport — into a future-forward tech campus.
Terminal Istanbul will serve as a 24/7 innovation hub where founders, investors, creatives, and technologists converge. The space will house co-working areas, R&D labs, cultural venues, and startup accelerators, creating a magnetic environment for innovation.
The project is being delivered through the Ministry of Industry and Technology; a leading technopark, Bilisim Vadisi; and key ecosystem builders. Its goals are to host 2,000 startups annually, facilitate venture capital matchmaking, and operate as a launchpad for regional expansion into EMEA markets.
Crucially, Terminal Istanbul represents a new paradigm for public-private collaboration. It’s not just a physical space — it’s a platform for collaboration, cultural connection, and global startup scaling. This model reinforces Istanbul’s unique role as a bridge between East and West, drawing from deep historical roots to shape a distinctly modern tech future.
Istanbul’s Edge: Bridging Markets, Cultures, and Capital
Türkiye’s rise as a global startup leader begins with Istanbul — where talent meets ambition and innovation knows no borders.
What makes Istanbul exceptional is its ability to blend scale with soul. It is one of the only startup hubs where you can raise seed capital, prototype with world-class talent, test in emerging markets, and scale to internationalization all within the same urban fabric. It’s this layered advantage — geographic, economic, cultural — that powers the city’s ascent.
Istanbul’s founders are increasingly global in outlook, and their startups reflect this. From Fintech to Gaming to AI, Istanbul’s innovation verticals mirror global trends while anchoring to regional needs. The city is producing founders who are multilingual, mobile, mission-driven, and ready to solve global problems at scale.
Thanks to support from actors like the Istanbul Development Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Technology, with large-scale initiatives like Terminal Istanbul and the Türkiye Tech Visa, these founders are more supported than ever before. The city’s growth is not a moment — it’s a movement.
Sustaining Growth Through Strategic Foundations
To sustain this momentum, ecosystem stakeholders are focusing on proven growth drivers: founder experience, access to growth capital, and deeper international connectivity. Istanbul’s opportunity lies in maintaining its velocity while anchoring in strong fundamentals — governance, talent, infrastructure, and inclusion. The ecosystem is no longer just “emerging.” It’s accelerating. It’s ready. And it’s open for the world’s most ambitious founders.