Two TRVC updates in one week! But there’s some encouraging news in the Turkish VC ecosystem worth sharing.
Everyone talks about the Series A funding gap in Turkish VC. It’s great to see investors actually doing something about it.
That’s what I particularly admire about the founders of Oleka Capital. Having built and exited two companies himself, İlker Sözdinler saw firsthand the need for more growth-stage capital—and decided to do something about it.
I sat down with İlker at Slush’d Istanbul for a short TRVC conversation about his journey from entrepreneur to investor, and what Turkish startups need to succeed internationally. Some great insights on hiring local talent, spending on sales and marketing, and the mindset changes required to scale.
Watch my conversation with İlker Sözdinler co-founder of Oleka Capital →
For more on Oleka, revisit my earlier, longer TRVC interview with İhsan Elgin on Oleka Capital and growth-stage investing.
And in a timely development, e2vc has just announced a new $150 million target growth fund, investing from Series A through C. Another welcome effort to address this gap!
Enis Hulli was one of my early guests on TRVC. You can revisit our conversation with Enis Hulli on e2vc's investment strategy and the Turkish VC ecosystem—and perhaps we'll have him back to discuss the new growth fund..
Good to see the Turkish VC ecosystem continuing to mature.
Yunus