When you think of Europe’s biggest startup hubs, it is London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam that tend to spring to mind. But now, investment and innovation in startups is seeing both Istanbul and Lisbon––itself already a top destination for tech workers––come to the fore. Here’s why.
Istanbul
Bridging Europe and Asia and the largest city in Turkiye, Istanbul has a young population with a strong engineering culture, feeding into success in the areas of ecommerce, gaming and global delivery applications. It has emerged as a player in the gaming industry, ranking second in Europe in terms of securing game deals, and fourth in the world.
In 2022, startups in Turkiye attracted nearly $1.69bn in investment, a record total. Getir, the homegrown grocery-delivery pioneer, accounted for a major portion of that investment, while 54% of total investments were made in the areas of gaming and fintech. One in every five transactions had a foreign investor involved.
Last year, Spike Games raised $55m in seed investment, further advancing its ability to join fellow Turkish billion-dollar games startups Peak and Dream Games in the unicorn ranks.