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This article was first published in the September 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by*subscribing online*
VCs and angel activity in Istanbul are thriving, but the city remains relatively small on the European stage. To help fill the gap, Turkey's stock exchange launched its Private Market platform in 2014, aimed at securing finances for companies without their going public. Other obstacles remain, however, such as the city's diminished quality of life due to high prices, congestion and political unrest. The city has lost some talent abroad as a result, and multinationals often relocate to Dubai. On the flip side, Turkey's huge market is attracting global players, with recent entries from Uber and Zomato. "Local entrepreneurs will need to think of strong defensive strategies, and have deeper war chests," predicts Earlybird partner Cem Sertoğlu.
Prisync
201/3 Rumelihisari Mah Bebek Yolu Sokak No:2/5, Sariyer, Istanbul
Prisync claims it provides the same level of competitor price-tracking that Amazon uses in its verticals – from electronics stores to horse-feed shops. Prisync now has 50 clients in 12 countries, and with €180,000 (£130,000) in seed funding from 2014 it plans to acquire "one client from every e-commerce market on Earth", explains co-founder Burc Tanir.
BiTaksi
Kusbakisi Cd 7, Maden Is Merkezi Kat 2, Altunizade, Uskudar, Istanbul
Uber recently launched in Istanbul, but BiTaksi has 95 per cent of the local market, a strong supply of drivers and a 24/7 call centre. It has its eye on other cities of more than five million, where competitors haven't yet made an impact. "We plan to launch with local partners and a driver app taking into account local culture," says co-founder Turancan Salur.
Parasüt
Tomtom Mahallesi Nuri Ziya Sokak No. 16, 1 Beyoglu, Istanbul
The Turkish economy is 99 per cent small businesses, amounting to 75 per cent of all employment. Yet these businesses are a third less productive as corporates. The problem? Finance admin. So in 2013, Sean Yu and his team founded Parasüt, a cloud platform for managing finances. In the past year they have secured $1.9m (£1.2m) in funding and gained 12,000 users.
Scorp
4 Levent Sanayi Sitesi, Huzur Mh, Beyazıt Cd No 15, Istanbul
Video-messaging app Scorp launched in February 2015, before rivals Meerkat and Periscope. By the end of April, 500,000 15-second clips had been shared. The startup is the brainchild of Izzet Zakuto and Sercan Isik, helped by Koc University and $250,000 in seed money. Monetisation will come after its Android and web platforms have been developed.
Dügün
Kuledibi Cikmazi 13Galata, Beyoglu, Istanbul
Dügün's success has been a slow burn: launched in 2007, it didn't evolve into its present form until 2010. Along with planning tools, it connects couples with the wedding marketplace – suppliers pay a fee to be represented. It's now ready to compete internationally: in 2015, it launched in eight countries in the Middle East and doubled its revenue for the fifth year in a row.
Volt
Ensiz Sokak, 8, K3, Asmalimescit, Beyoglu, Istanbul
Launched in September 2014, ride-sharing app Volt avoids legal issues by keeping costs up to 70 per cent cheaper than taxis, which makes the service technically non-commercial. Volt this year received a government grant to support R&D on its real-time route-matching algorithm and a second, simplified version of the app, ready for expansion in 2016.
Hazelcast
Mahir Iz Cad. No:35, Altunizade, Istanbul
Hazelcast is an in-memory data grid based on Java. In 2010, the company started to compete with the likes of Oracle by using an open-source model. $13.25m in funding later, the company claims $300,000 in monthly revenue and has offices in Ankara, London and Palo Alto. Co-founder Talip Ozturk says "e-commerce players will be very interested" in its new features.
Ininal
Trump Towers, 5th Floor, Mecidiyekoy, Istanbul
In 2013, prepaid card provider Ininal leapt into a market where only half the population has bank accounts or debit cards. Its success reflected that gap, with users growing from 300,000 to one million within a year, and spending over $5m per month. A virtual version has been launched, along with developer tools that allow Ininal to be integrated into apps and sites.
Modanisa
Halk Caddesi Sunar Is Merkezi 37 A Uskudar, Istanbul
Since being featured in last year's list, the Islamic fashion e-commerce platform has raised $5.5m from Saudi Telecom Ventures and Aslanoba Capital, and topped 220,000 daily visitors the following month. Modanisa recently hired a CMO from Proctor & Gamble to help with planned expansion in Europe and the Middle East.
Incir
Egitim Mahallesi, Sadikoglu Plaza 5 39, Kadiköy, Istanbul
Incir helps its customers set up an e-commerce platform, but takes care of the back end -- from payment processing to the production of marketing materials. Although currently in stealth mode, the startup has attracted attention from VCs: it has an average reported revenue of $2m a month and 2,500 per cent growth from 2013 to 2014.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
