GO! GLOBAL Türkiye Summit opens in Istanbul

By Kazim Kaan Ulu and Gizem Nisa Demir

ISTANBUL (AA) - The third GO! GLOBAL Türkiye Summit opened in Istanbul on Thursday, bringing together global investors, technology leaders, Turkish entrepreneurs and artificial intelligence experts for three days of discussions on international expansion, investment and innovation.

Organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEIK) through its Türkiye-US Business Council (TAIK) Digital Working Group in collaboration with Endeavor Türkiye, the summit runs through Saturday.

Participating investment firms represent more than $800 billion in capital, up from the previously announced $500 billion, according to DEIK.

More than 50 investment firms, 250 startup founders and 900 attendees are expected to participate.

The main gathering will take place on Friday at Divan Kurucesme Istanbul featuring Trade Minister Omer Bolat, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir, DEIK President Nail Olpak, TAIK Chairman Murat Ozyegin and other business and technology leaders.

The program includes more than 200 prearranged one-on-one meetings between entrepreneurs and investors matched according to industry, investment priorities, company growth stage and international expansion goals.

Turkish-founded companies such as Trendyol, Peak Games, Dream Games and Insider One have achieved unicorn status, while AI companies including fal.ai and HubX demonstrate the global reach of Turkish technology talent.

Uber Chief Financial Officer Balaji Krishnamurthy will discuss the company's global expansion in a session moderated by Insider One’s co-founder and CEO Hande Cilingir.

Other participants include investment executives from General Atlantic, Riverwood Capital, Apis Partners and Wamda Capital, as well as representatives from Speedinvest, Hustle Fund, Quest Ventures and MEVP.

The third day will feature a keynote address by Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, investor discussions and sessions on international limited partners' approaches to emerging markets and cooperation between investors and venture capital firms.

DEIK President Olpak said Türkiye's technology talent, entrepreneurial ecosystem and internationally successful companies offered significant opportunities for economic growth.

"The momentum we have achieved in gaming, financial technologies and artificial intelligence demonstrates our country's potential for high-value-added production and exports.

"To turn this potential into lasting economic value, we must strengthen our entrepreneurs' access to financing, international investment networks and new markets," he said.

Ozyegin said the summit aims to connect Turkish startups directly with international investors and strengthen the country's position in the global innovation ecosystem.

"We are excited to bring together investment firms whose current or former portfolios include global companies such as Airbnb, Spotify, SpaceX, Palantir Technologies, Epic Games, Anthropic and Databricks, along with leaders and experts from more than 10 global technology companies, including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple, Salesforce and IBM," he said.

Cilingir said the summit's investor-matching model was designed to align entrepreneurs' goals with investors' priorities before meetings begin, helping accelerate partnerships and global growth.

Endeavor Türkiye Chairman Emre Kurttepeli said artificial intelligence was reshaping investment priorities and creating new opportunities for Turkish entrepreneurs.

"Turkish entrepreneurs have the talent and innovative ideas to play a significant role in this transformation. Turning this potential into growth on a global scale requires early, direct engagement with investors who shape AI investment themes and companies that have already scaled in this field," Kurttepeli said.

Further information about the summit is available at goglobalturkiye.com.

Kazım Kaan Ulu