Turkish Startups Reach Billion-Dollar Valuations on a Global Scale
The successes of Turkish technology startups and the investments they receive from foreign funds bring discussions about domestic capital and intellectual property to the forefront.
Istanbul-based Loom Games and Izmir-based HubX have attracted the attention of international investment funds by reaching valuations exceeding one billion dollars with the mobile games and applications they developed.
The Success of Loom Games and Pixel Flow
The game called Pixel Flow, developed by Istanbul-based Loom Games, managed to reach more than ten million players in a short time. Following this success, the game succeeded in entering the top twenty highest-grossing mobile games in the United States of America.
Acquisition by Scopely
In February of this year, the majority stake of Loom Games was acquired by United States-based Scopely through a valuation exceeding one billion dollars. It was noted that Scopely, which carried out the acquisition, operates under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund-owned Savvy Games Group.
HubX Becomes Turkey's Eighth Turcorn
Izmir-based HubX received up to seventy-five million dollars in investment from United States-based Point72 Private Investments. With this investment, the company reached a valuation of 1.2 billion dollars, earning Turkey's eighth Turcorn title.
Global User Reach
Having a history of four years, HubX reached over six hundred million users in more than one hundred and ninety countries thanks to the mobile applications and artificial intelligence tools it developed. This broad global reach clearly demonstrates the power of Turkish startups in international markets.
Domestic Capital and Risks
Behind these successes lies a strong potential in domestic engineering and entrepreneurship. However, the fact that the capital financing the growth largely comes from foreign funds also harbors certain risks in terms of intellectual property rights and control mechanisms.