Turkey
Equities platform Midas raises $45M Series A as fintech retains its sparkle in Turkey
Midas, a fintech startup that allows people in Turkey to invest in U.S. and Turkish equities, says it has raised $45 million in a funding round led by Portage of…
Meta to close Threads in Turkey to comply with injunction prohibiting data sharing with Instagram
Meta will “temporarily” shutter Threads in Turkey on April 29, in response to an injunction imposed by the country’s competition authority.
Turkish startup ikas attracts $20M for its e-commerce platform designed for small businesses
E-commerce’s field remains vast and fertile, and further evidence of this has surfaced in the form of one of the largest fundraises by a startup in Turkey.
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Inside the weird and quirky world of building a startup behind a wall of tariffs
Think quick — how much does a top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max cost? If you said around $1,600, you’d be right, but only if you’re based in the U.S. In Turkey, the same phone will set you back almost $3,000. That gap introduces a fantastic opportunity for arbitrage — and…
The VC ‘Scramble for Europe’ breaks out in the East as a €70M fund breaks cover
There is a fight emerging in Central and Eastern Europe, and all the way down into the South Eastern regions. Investors such as Inovo, Credo, LauncHub, Vitosha, VentureFriends, and Marathon…
Mobile users are now spending 4-5 hours per day in apps
Although the mobile app boom driven by pandemic lockdowns has long since passed, consumers’ mobile usage is still growing. According to new data released today by app intelligence firm data.ai…
Spyware maker Candiru linked to Chrome zero-day targeting journalists
Security researchers have linked the discovery of an actively exploited but since-fixed zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome to an Israeli spyware maker targeting journalists in the Middle East. Cybersecurity company…
China-backed hackers targeted White House journalists before January 6
Researchers at cybersecurity company Proofpoint said they have observed the China-backed advanced persistent threat group, TA412, also known as Zirconium, engaging in several reconnaissance phishing campaigns since early last year.…
Alibaba extends logistics arm to Pakistan for e-commerce unit Daraz
Cainiao, the logistics service operated by Alibaba, is launching two automated distribution centers in Karachi and Lahore as its first entry into Pakistan, it announced on Friday. Alibaba’s overseas expansion…
Getir, the $12B instant delivery startup, plans to axe 14% of staff globally and cut aggressive expansion plans
It continues to be a very rough week for e-commerce companies in Europe. In the latest development, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that Getir — the $12 billion quick commerce upstart…
Earlybird VC closes new €350M fund for Western European startups, with a deep-tech angle
Earlybird VC was one of the “OG” of the emergence of Berlin as a key global tech startup ecosystem 15 years ago. Founded in 1997, it’s gone on to back…
Mass transit group Swvl confirms estimated $100M acquisition of UK startup Zeelo
Mass transit group Swvl has confirmed to TechCrunch its deal to buy U.K. startup Zeelo, estimated to be a $100 million acquisition, according to sources. The Egyptian-born startup that provides…
Egyptian MaaS startup Swvl enters Turkish markets with latest acquisition
Swvl, an Egyptian startup that provides shared transportation services for intercity and intracity trips, has expanded into Turkey with its recent acquisition of Volt Lines, a B2B transportation-as-a-service operator. The…
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Tech talent flees Russia as Western sanctions bite
Russia is seeing an exodus of entrepreneurs, computer programmers and other educated middle-class citizens as Western sanctions and political instability make it impossible to run an international business in the country. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced millions to flee their homes, fearing for their lives. But the war is…
Tripledot snaps up $116M at a $1.4B valuation as casual mobile games become serious business
Casual mobile games have reached a fever pitch of interest with consumers, and so too with investors, who are rushing to back the biggest and most promising startups building these…
As European VC heats up, Berlin’s Earlybird expands its reach into France with an adjunct fund
Earlybird, best known as the Berlin-based VC which has backed myriad German and European startups such as SoundCloud and N26, is today expanding its reach in Europe with the creation…
Zapp snaps up $200M to supersize its instant grocery play
Zapp, the instant grocery delivery startup that launched in 2020 in London, has picked up a substantial round of funding to go head-to-head with Getir,…
Score another win for Istanbul gaming startups: Dream Games raises $255M at a $2.75B valuation
Yet more funding is finding its way to Istanbul’s gaming startups. Today, Dream Games — the casual games developer behind the hit game Royal Match — is announcing a $255…
Turkey’s Spyke raises $55M in a seed round to bring a social twist to casual mobile games
Istanbul has become a city to watch when it comes to casual gaming startups, boosted by the likes of Peak (acquired by Zynga for $1.8 billion) and Dream (valued at…
Fact-checkers write open letter urging YouTube to get serious about COVID misinformation
A group of more than 80 prominent fact-checking organizations around the world is pressing YouTube to take action against COVID misinformation, which still prevails on the platform now two years…
App Annie: Global app stores’ consumer spend up 19% to $170B in 2021, downloads grew 5% to 230B
Consumer spending on mobile apps reached $170 billion in 2021, according to App Annie’s newly released “State of Mobile 2022″ report, out today, which offers a comprehensive look at the…
Opontia gets $42M to buy more e-commerce brands in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa
E-commerce roll-up play Opontia launched in June, raising $20 million in debt and equity to acquire older, small e-commerce brands in the Middle East and Africa. Today, the company confirmed…
Facebook is making two-factor mandatory for high-risk accounts
Facebook, a recently added subsidiary of Meta, said it will make two-factor authentication (2FA) mandatory for high-risk accounts likely to be targeted by malicious hackers. The move is part of…
Turkey’s instant grocery giant Getir grabs UK’s Weezy in latest delivery consolidation
Well that was quick. U.K.-based hyper fast grocery delivery startup Weezy — which only raised a pre-seed for its 15-minute delivery services of supermarket fare last year (after founding the…
Subscription carbon offsetting platform Ecologi hits $8M total raised, includes General Catalyst
People subscribe to music, so why wouldn’t they subscribe to carbon offsetting to alleviate their conscience about the climate crisis? That’s partly the thinking behind U.K. startup Ecologi, which uses…
After acquiring Dija and Fancy, instant grocery startup Gopuff launches in the UK en route to European expansion
Instant grocery and essentials delivery is already a very crowded field in Europe; but today competition was turned up another notch: Gopuff — the U.S. leader in the space with…
Twitter users in Turkey can now emoji-react to tweets
Starting today, Twitter is testing Tweet Reactions in Turkey for a limited time. Users in the region will be able to react to tweets using , , and , in addition to .…
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. Our beloved Danny was back, joining Natasha and Alex and…
Turkey’s first decacorn: Trendyol raises $1.5B at a $16.5B valuation
Trendyol, an e-commerce platform based in Turkey, has raised $1.5 billion in a massive funding round that values the company at $16.5 billion. General Atlantic, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Princeville…
3 invaluable founder lessons I learned on my immigration journey
In my journey to the U.S., I became good at three things: accepting uncertainty, building resilience and maintaining a positive mental attitude. I needed them all to get my startup…
