The State of Corporate Venture Capital in Türkiye: From Experiment to Strategic Imperative
Emrah Silav
When we look at the trajectory of Türkiye’s startup ecosystem over the past decade, one theme stands out: corporate venture capital (CVC) has moved from a side experiment to a core pillar of how the country funds and scales innovation.
At the 2025 CVC Bosphorus Summit—hosted by Girişimci Kurumlar Platformu, supported by Fiba Group and Özyeğin University—this shift was impossible to miss. The room was full, but more importantly, it was full of decision-makers: corporate boards, fund managers, founders, and policymakers who now see CVC not as an accessory to innovation, but as a vehicle for competitive advantage.
The data confirms the change. In 2024, 36% of all startup investment deals in Türkiye involved at least one corporate venture investor. That’s up sharply from just a few years ago. Ninety-two active CVCs now operate in the market; many running acceleration funds, others co-investing as LPs in VC vehicles. The average fund size, $30 million, may be modest by global standards, but it is growing, and the sophistication of the strategies behind it is growing faster still.
A More Strategic CVC
One of the clearest takeaways from the report we commissioned with Startups.watch is that Türkiye’s CVCs are maturing beyond cheque-writing. Capital is now paired with distribution, customer acquisition, and proof-of-concept pipelines; assets that traditional VC cannot easily replicate. In our conversations with founders, the most valued contribution from a CVC partner is often not the cash, but the ability to land a first major client, run a commercial pilot, or scale internationally through corporate channels.
This strategic intent is visible in sector focus. AI, cloud software, and fintech dominate CVC deal flow, not because they are buzzwords, but because they are where Türkiye already has competitive capabilities and where corporates can provide an acceleration edge. We see CVCs leaning into verticals where their own operations and supply chains give them an unfair advantage in helping startups grow.
The Gap and the Opportunity
Despite this momentum, the market still faces a fundamental gap in growth-stage capital. The graduation rate from Seed to Series A remains below 5% in Türkiye, compared to 19% in Europe within 36 months. This is not due to a shortage of talent or ideas; it’s a shortage of post-Seed capital willing to take scale-up risk. For the ecosystem to mature, CVCs will need to deploy not just in early proof-of-concept rounds, but in the growth stages where the capital requirement is larger, the time horizons are longer, and the competitive stakes are higher.
For Oleka, this is where our role is most relevant. Our own strategy is to partner with founders at the point where traction meets ambition—where a company has proven its model locally and is ready to expand regionally or globally. We co-invest alongside leading global growth investors and bring operational expertise, international networks, and strategic partnerships to the table. The same logic that drives the best-performing CVCs—capital plus corporate advantage—is built into our DNA.
From Local Hub to Growth Corridor
Türkiye’s position is unique. It is both a testing ground for new business models and a launchpad into a 600 million–person, $8 trillion economy spanning Europe, MENA, and Central Asia. When we speak of CVC’s role here, we are not only talking about strengthening domestic innovation, but also about building companies designed for cross-border scale from day one. That requires investors who understand both the local market dynamics and the demands of global expansion.
The 2025 State of CVC in Türkiye report shows that the foundation for this is being laid. We have more active CVCs, larger funds, and a growing playbook for how to marry capital with corporate capability. But the next chapter—moving from a proliferation of initiatives to a sustained pipeline of regional category leaders—will require discipline, collaboration, and a willingness to write bigger cheques for bigger opportunities.
Our Stand
At Oleka Capital, we believe that the CVC momentum in Türkiye is one of the most important structural shifts in our innovation economy. Done right, it can close the growth capital gap, create globally competitive companies, and anchor Türkiye’s position as a regional hub for scale-ups. Done poorly, it risks becoming a collection of small, siloed initiatives that never break out of the pilot phase.
Our job, and the job of every serious CVC player in this market, is to push for the former. That means making strategic bets, bringing real corporate assets to the table, and holding ourselves to global standards of execution and governance. It’s not just about building companies—it’s about building momentum that lasts.
The full 2025 State of CVC in Türkiye report is available for download here.