Türkiye aims for 100,000 tech startups by 2030: Minister

ISTANBUL

Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır has stated that Türkiye aims to cultivate 100,000 tech startups and reach a collective “Turcorn” valuation of $100 billion by 2030.

Speaking at the “Terminal Istanbul x SSCI Innovation and Investment Forum,” Kacır emphasized that Türkiye has gained significant momentum in the fields of technology and innovation, noting that the entrepreneurship ecosystem has shown remarkable growth in recent years.

He highlighted that Türkiye’s ecosystem has already produced startups exceeding billion-dollar valuations.

“Over the past 23 years, annual R&D expenditures have grown from $1.2 billion to $20 billion. While the share of R&D in Türkiye’s GDP was once just 0.05 percent, it has now climbed close to 1.5 percent,” he said.

Kacır noted that nearly 13,000 technology startups are currently operating with an innovation focus across 114 technoparks in Türkiye. He added that investments in technology startups have increased in parallel with the ecosystem’s growth, with total investments reaching $5.5 billion over the past five years.

“We will allocate an additional $300 million from public resources to venture capital funds that will help grow Türkiye’s technology startups. Through this support, we expect at least $750 million dollars more in investments to be directed toward Turkish technology ventures,” said Kacır.