Artificial intelligence technologies become key to investment
ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) technology has become a pervasive concept, impacting every sector globally. As technology ventures strive to innovate, they are increasingly leveraging AI technology to its fullest extent.
The year 2023 marked a significant milestone in the venture capital sector, with AI companies generating a staggering $50 billion in revenue. The investment trend not only mirrors the expanding maturity and potential of AI technologies but also lays the groundwork for ongoing innovation and growth in the years to come. Experienced venture capital funds, along with corporate venture capital funds, are placing a significant focus on AI technology. TT Ventures, the venture capital arm of Türk Telekom, notably directed investments toward AI-focused ventures. Similarly, major private lender, Akbank, with a fund of $100 million, is tracking AI technology ventures not only in Türkiye but also internationally. Simya VC, an international early-stage venture fund, invested a total of $2.1 million in six startups in 2023, with AI technology ventures prominently featuring among its investments.
Preparing to establish its second fund in 2024, Simya VC aims to invest in more than 10 ventures this year.
Established as part of a collaboration of Türkiye’s first corporate venture capital fund, 212, Neo Portföy and Alchemist Accelerator, one of the world’s best acceleration programs, to invest in early-stage ventures, Simya VC held discussions with a total of 280 startups last year.
Out of these, it invested in notable startups such as Agrotics in agricultural technology, B2Metric in AI-supported data analytics, Evercopy in AI-based content creation, Juphy in AI-based B2B software as a service (SaaS), Syntonym in generative AI and Werover in renewable energy.
Contributing to global expansion Selma Bahçıvanoğlu, managing partner at Simya VC, expressed pride in their achievements, noting plans to establish their second fund in 2024. Emphasizing investments in ventures with global visions, Bahçıvanoğlu highlighted their partnership with Alchemist, enabling ventures to leverage support for entering the U.S. market and benefiting from its network effect.
“In a relatively short period of time, akin to a year, we established our first fund, invested in a total of six ventures and expanded our investor portfolio to 90.
This achievement is tremendously pride-inducing for us. Within the year 2024, we plan to establish our second fund (Simya 2). With the funds we’ve set up, we aim to invest in over 10 ventures this year,” she noted.
Bahçıvanoğlu also emphasized their investment in globally-minded ventures.
“In today’s world, ventures should not confine themselves to the local market. However, it’s not easy for a venture to solely focus on a strategy of selling to the global market.
This is precisely where the ventures in our portfolio, benefiting from the investment they receive from Simya along with the support of Alchemist, one of the world’s best acceleration programs and our partner, come into play,” she said.
“Alchemist provides support for ventures entering the U.S. market and contributes to them through its network effect, thanks to its know-how about the market.”
In 2023, Logo Ventures invested in 10 startups, increasing its total investments to 16 with six follow-on investments. Prioritizing ventures capable of addressing future challenges, Logo Ventures opted for Figopara and Kamion, positioned to lead in their respective markets, or those with export potential like Quin AI, Flowla, and CarbonCentrum.
Logo Ventures, which invested in startups in Türkiye, Central and Eastern Europe and Baltic countries last year, contributes to the journey of globalization for ventures by opening its business network to them, aiming to help them reach a better position quickly.
Furthermore, it introduced an innovative approach to investment evaluation in 2023, deploying data-driven evaluation software to streamline and enhance investment processes.
Extensive datasets collected from various sources are interpreted through a specially developed application for the fund, enabling Logo Ventures to evaluate new ventures rapidly and systematically without bias. Through this method, the fund aims to increase efficiency and success in investment processes.
Merve Zabcı, managing partner at Logo Ventures, affirmed their commitment to investing in ventures shaping the future, providing not only financial support but also access to international mentors and a global investor network.
Looking ahead to 2024, Logo Ventures plans to focus on AI applications in various sectors, cybersecurity and climate technologies.
“We continue to invest in startups that can shape the future with their products and technologies.
After the investment, we not only provide financial support to ventures but also open up our international mentor and global investor network,” said Zabcı.
“Our aim is to foster successful ventures in the global competition from this region. In this context, we plan to prioritize focusing on various sector applications of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and climate technologies in the year 2024.”
Major Turkish private lender Akbank has initiated its global investments in the entrepreneurship ecosystem with a $100 million fund through Akbank Ventures while implementing open innovation alongside corporate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs through Akbank Lab.
Speaking at the Annual Türkiye Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Event, Burcu Civelek Yüce, deputy general manager in charge of Retail Banking and Digital Solutions at Akbank, said Akbank Lab is open to all entrepreneurs.
“We established Akbank Lab in 2016 with the aim of conducting open innovation with financial technology startups from around the world, integrating innovation into our own structure and promoting an internal culture of entrepreneurship.
We conducted proof-ofconcept studies with nearly 40 financial technology startups, bringing 16 of them to life.