e2vc Launches $150M Growth Fund

As e2vc, we support technology companies from Türkiye and CEE as they grow in international markets, and we launched our new growth fund, e2vc Growth Fund, at a private gathering in Istanbul. Building on our track record of backing successful technology companies from Türkiye, we now aim to support technology companies as they scale globally with our new investment approach. e2vc Growth Fund is a Venture Capital Investment Fund (“GSYF”) with a target size of $150 million, established by Azimut Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. (“Azimut Portföy”) and advised by our team.

Building on a decade of pre-seed and seed-stage investing, we are expanding our investment scope to Series A–C with our new strategy. Under e2vc Growth, the fund plans to make initial investments of up to $10 million per company and to continue supporting companies with follow-on investments in subsequent financing rounds. This will allow us to take part in the growth of our most promising early-stage portfolio companies, while also investing in new growth-stage companies we reach through our investment network.

With the new structure, our total assets under management (AUM) will reach $600 million, while the capital available for investment across our new Growth Fund and Fund III will exceeds $300 million.

Our General Partner Enis Hulli explained the rationale behind our move into growth-stage investing:

“To date, we have invested in many successful companies at a very early stage. But as these companies grew, our investment scope meant we could not continue backing them in later funding rounds. With e2vc Growth, we will now be able to support our strongest portfolio companies through their growth stages as well.”

Türkiye’s Growing Technology Ecosystem Needs Growth Capital

While Türkiye’s entrepreneurship ecosystem has in recent years produced companies competing in international markets, particularly in gaming, software and technology, access to capital these companies need at the growth stage remains a pressing issue.

According to data from the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Digital Transformation Office, of the roughly 950 VC-backed startups in Türkiye at the early stage, only 47 reach the growth stage and 7 reach late stage. Domestic investors account for about 40% of early-stage funding, but their share drops to 5% in rounds above €15 million. Similarly, according to the OECD, early-stage financing is at comparable levels in the EU and the US, while the gap opens up in large follow-on rounds. 80% of late-stage capital for US startups comes from domestic investors, compared with around 30% in the EU.

These developments underline how important access to growth capital is for technology companies from Türkiye, not only at the early stage but also as they expand into international markets and scale.

Serra Alkoçlar Alp, General Partner of e2vc Growth, commented on the need for growth capital in Türkiye:

“Türkiye has become an ecosystem that produces strong technology companies. But the capital these companies need at the growth stage has not developed at the same pace. Until now, many successful startups have had to prove themselves in Silicon Valley first in order to access large-scale growth investment. With e2vc Growth, we aim to close this capital gap and support the global growth of strong technology companies from Türkiye.”

A focus on mobile gaming and Türkiye-connected global technology companies

e2vc Growth’s investment strategy focuses on two core areas: mobile gaming companies from Türkiye, and technology startups that grow in international markets while maintaining strong ties to Türkiye. Mobile gaming has been one of our most prominent investment areas in recent years. By the end of 2025, we had invested in six gaming companies; within our portfolio, Loom Games reached unicorn status, while three more gaming companies achieved valuations above $100 million. At its peak, our gaming portfolio’s combined daily revenue reached $3 million.

In 2026, we invested in five more gaming companies, bringing our total number of investments in the sector to 11. With our new growth strategy, we aim to support the talent and international competitiveness that Türkiye has built in mobile gaming through later-stage investments.

Türkiye Nexus: Connecting Turkish Tech Talent with Global Markets

e2vc Growth’s second investment focus is on companies defined as Türkiye Nexus. This approach covers not only startups headquartered in Türkiye, but also international technology companies founded by Turkish entrepreneurs or that maintain strong ties to Türkiye through their teams, R&D activities and operations.

Our General Partner Arın Özkula illustrated this approach with concrete company examples:

“We have invested in companies such as fal, BillionToOne, Ubicloud and Carbon Health, which focus on global markets while maintaining strong ties to Türkiye, as well as companies like Insider that were born in Türkiye and expanded worldwide. What these companies have in common is that they draw on Türkiye’s strong entrepreneurial and engineering talent.”

According to our data, the combined annual revenue of our portfolio companies has reached approximately $5 billion, nearly all of it generated in international markets. Of the roughly 3,000 people employed by our portfolio companies, half are based in Türkiye. These companies, which grow in global markets while keeping a significant share of their engineering, technology development and R&D activities in Türkiye, form the foundation of the Türkiye Nexus approach.

e2vc Growth will also consider selected investment opportunities in companies growing in consumer markets in Türkiye and the surrounding region that have the potential to become regional leaders in their fields.

An investment platform spanning from early stage to global scale

Bringing our early-stage investment experience to the growth stage, our track record includes six unicorns and, in addition, ten companies that have reached valuations above $100 million.

The new strategy will enable us to continue our investment relationship with successful portfolio companies into later financing rounds and to support new growth-stage companies.

e2vc Growth’s investment strategy will be led by our General Partners Enis Hulli, Arın Özkula and Serra Alkoçlar Alp. The team will draw on the investment network, institutional infrastructure and talent management capabilities we have built over the past 10 years.

Azimut Portföy CEO and Board Member Murat Salar commented on the alternative investment ecosystem:

“Partnering with the best investment teams in their fields to grow our alternative investment funds is one of Azimut’s core strategic priorities. We strongly believe in the potential of Türkiye and the global venture capital ecosystem, and we remain committed to investing in this promising potential. The e2vc partners’ proven track record, deep sector expertise and strong connections in the global venture capital ecosystem make them a natural partner for us. We are very excited to be part of e2vc’s value creation journey through this fund.”

Building Global Category Leaders from Türkiye

The private launch event for e2vc Growth, held at Raffles Istanbul, brought together institutional, private and public investors with our founders and team.

At the event, Insider One Co-Founder and CEO Hande Çilingir and Loom Games Co-Founder and CEO Kübra Gündoğan shared their experiences of building global category leaders from Türkiye and scaling companies in international markets.

Insider One Co-Founder and CEO Hande Çilingir, speaking at the event, highlighted the importance of access to financing for growth-stage technology companies in Türkiye:

“If there had been funds supporting growth-stage startups in Türkiye, Insider could have grown much faster. Building world-class technology companies from Türkiye takes more than strong ideas and talented teams. These companies also need access to the growth capital they need at the right time. The launch of funds like e2vc Growth is an important step toward accelerating the global growth journeys of technology companies in Türkiye and paving the way for new success stories.”

The gathering also explored how the level Türkiye has reached in technology entrepreneurship can be taken further through growth-stage investment, and the role of capital, talent and global market connections in the development of internationally competitive companies.

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