Boğaziçi Ventures Marks 2023 as a Year of Strategic Importance and Impact

Boğaziçi Ventures closed 2023 as a year of strategic significance and strong impact. Over the past year, Turkey’s venture capital ecosystem witnessed notable growth and transformation. By the end of 2023, the total size of the 276 active Venture Capital Investment Funds (VCIFs) operating in Turkey had reached 98 billion TL, a clear indication of the country’s expanding and maturing venture capital landscape.

Boğaziçi Ventures closed 2023 as a year of strategic significance and strong impact. Over the past year, Turkey’s venture capital ecosystem witnessed notable growth and transformation. By the end of 2023, the total size of the 276 active Venture Capital Investment Funds (VCIFs) operating in Turkey had reached 98 billion TL, a clear indication of the country’s expanding and maturing venture capital landscape.

In this dynamic environment, the establishment of 46 new funds in 2023 emerged as another strong sign of the sector’s rapid development and diversification. This variety within Turkey’s venture capital ecosystem addressed a broader base of investors and entrepreneurs, thereby boosting dynamism. Particularly, new funds launched by Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) firms and companies leveraging technopark incentives showcased the ecosystem’s strong foundations and immense potential.

At Boğaziçi Ventures, our strategy in 2023 focused on supporting startups with sustainable business models that could compete both locally and globally. This approach was designed to reinforce our leadership and add value to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Throughout the year, we invested 250 million TL across 31 startups, including around 10 new companies, through our BV Growth Fund. These investments were balanced across gaming (a key focus area of our portfolio), fintech, retail technologies, SaaS, digital health, HR tech, and edtech. We also made an investment in clean energy, reflecting our commitment to sustainability and environmental impact.

2023 marked the third investment year of the BV Growth Fund, underlining our long-term vision and dedication to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. With exits still three years away, this phase represents an exciting period as we closely follow and support the growth of our portfolio companies.

Compared to previous years, both the pace and total volume of investments decreased slightly. This shift was largely due to investor preference toward early-stage and lower-valuation startups, influenced by economic uncertainty and the difficulty of predicting startup performance.

Nevertheless, Turkey’s entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to stand out as a highly promising market for early-stage ventures. As economic uncertainties ease, we believe startup investments will accelerate in the coming years. In this context, Boğaziçi Ventures remains committed to the ecosystem and continues to launch new funds to drive further investment.

To diversify our investment strategy and broaden our contribution, we introduced the BV Portföy Synergy VCIF, designed specifically to address Turkey’s need for a secondary market and to provide entrepreneurs with partial exit opportunities. By investing small amounts directly into founder shares at advantageous valuations, the Synergy VCIF offers investors unique opportunities.

Additionally, our BV Portföy Joygame Pre-IPO Fund (focused on gaming) and BV Portföy Liquidity Trading Pre-IPO Fund (focused on fintech) were launched to target later-stage investments. These funds aim to provide investors with exit opportunities within 3–4 years. While investing in late-stage companies close to IPO with ticket sizes of $50K–100K USD is often difficult, our Pre-IPO funds enable small and mid-sized investors to access such opportunities. These funds consolidate investments under one structure, protect investor rights, and allow broader participation in the growth of advanced-stage companies.

For more information or to discuss investment opportunities, you can always reach us at [email protected].

Through these innovative funds, Boğaziçi Ventures aims to make a deep contribution to Turkey’s entrepreneurial ecosystem while offering investors diversified, high-potential opportunities. Our strategic approach both reinforces our leadership and represents important steps toward increasing Turkey’s global competitiveness in entrepreneurship.

As 2023 draws to a close, we view this past year as an important milestone in Turkey’s venture capital journey of growth and transformation. With our strategic investments and innovative funds, we not only contributed to the ecosystem but also created meaningful opportunities for investors.

Looking ahead, we will continue to support Turkey’s growth and international success in entrepreneurship through our BV Growth Fund and other innovative vehicles. For us at Boğaziçi Ventures, investing in the future of entrepreneurship and representing Turkey’s innovative spirit on the global stage is both an honor and a responsibility. In the coming years, we will continue our efforts to strengthen the ecosystem further and help write new international success stories.

We thank all entrepreneurs, investors, and stakeholders who have joined us on this journey. With our belief in the future of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Boğaziçi Ventures moves forward with excitement toward new successes and opportunities.