The Turkish startup ecosystem recorded 360 deals totaling $1.4 billion in 2025, up from 331 deals in 2024, while total deal value declined from $2.6 billion, according to the KPMG Türkiye M&A and 212 “Turkish Startup Investments Review 2025.”
This decline was primarily driven by the absence of mega-deals in 2025, in contrast to the previous year, when several large-scale transactions provided a notable uplift to aggregate investment volumes within an already active VC market, said the report.
As a result, the market in 2025 was characterized by smaller average deal sizes and a more selective investment environment, it added.
Acquisitions and early-stage investments accounted for the majority of total investment volume, representing 64.3 percent and 27.7 percent, respectively, and together totaling approximately $975 million. In contrast, deal activity was concentrated at the seed stage, which dominated deal count with 269 transactions, accounting for nearly 75 percent of all deals.
Local investors led the market by deal count, participating in 318 of 360 transactions, while foreign investors were involved in 42 deals. However, foreign investors dominated deal volume, contributing $1.15 billion, compared to $227 million from local investors, underscoring the continued importance of international capital in large-scale transactions.
In terms of deal count, artificial intelligence emerged as the leading vertical, followed by SaaS, healthtech, fintech, gaming and biotech as other active sectors, the report said.
The delivery and logistics vertical recorded the highest investment volume, reaching approximately $700 million, entirely driven by Uber’s acquisition of an 85 percent stake in Trendyol Go — the largest transaction of the year, it highlighted.
