Türkiye's leading entrepreneurs and AI talent met with the world's foremost investors. The global investment capital represented at the GO! GLOBAL Summit rose from USD 500 billion to USD 800 billion.
Organised for the third time by the Digital Task Force of the DEİK/Türkiye–U.S. Business Council (TAİK) in cooperation with Endeavor Türkiye, the GO! GLOBAL Türkiye Summit welcomed leading figures from the global technology and investment ecosystem to Istanbul on 22–24 October 2026. Bringing together more than 1,300 participants, including entrepreneurs, investors, technology leaders and ecosystem representatives, the summit saw the total capital represented by participating investors reach USD 800 billion, up from the previously announced USD 500 billion.
The main GO! GLOBAL Türkiye Summit took place in Istanbul on 23 October 2026, with the participation of Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye; Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Türkiye; Nail Olpak, President of DEİK; Batu Aksoy, Executive Board Member of the DEİK/Türkiye–U.S. Business Council; Hande Çilingir, Leader of the DEİK/TAİK Digital Task Force and Co-Founder and CEO of Insider One; and Emre Kurttepeli, Chairman of Endeavor Türkiye. The summit also brought together more than 50 international investment institutions, over 280 startup founders, technology company leaders, AI and robotics experts, and high-potential technology entrepreneurs from Türkiye.
Bolat: "The GO! GLOBAL Türkiye Summit will help build new partnerships and lasting commercial ties"
Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye, noted that the value of Türkiye's startup ecosystem had exceeded EUR 40 billion, stating:
"Türkiye's startup ecosystem is expanding rapidly in gaming, e-commerce, health technologies, cybersecurity, financial technologies and software. Our young and skilled workforce, innovative companies and strong manufacturing base offer significant opportunities for international investors. Our cooperation with the United States provides Turkish startups with access to capital and international markets, while offering American investors innovative solutions and opportunities for regional growth.
"Last year, our bilateral trade volume increased by 13% to USD 38.5 billion, and we expect it to exceed the USD 42–43 billion range this year. We believe that partnerships in technology and digital trade will further strengthen our economic relations. By bringing together more than 50 international fund investors and managers, the GO! GLOBAL Türkiye Summit will help establish new partnerships and lasting commercial ties. Our goal is to support our entrepreneurs as they strengthen their businesses and scale globally, while attracting international investment to Türkiye."
Kacır: "We aim to make Türkiye a global hub for technology, entrepreneurship and investment"
Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Türkiye, highlighted the significant opportunities that Türkiye's strong industrial base, skilled workforce and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem offer global investors:
"Today, we have eight Turcorns—Turkish startups valued at over USD 1 billion. By 2030, we aim to encourage the establishment of 100,000 startups in Türkiye and increase the combined valuation of our Turcorns to USD 100 billion. As we build our capabilities in frontier technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, we are strengthening entrepreneurs' access to financing, strategic partnerships and global markets.
"We want Türkiye to become a country where AI technologies are developed, deployed at scale and exported worldwide. We will continue connecting promising startups with investors, strengthening collaboration between industry and entrepreneurs, and creating new opportunities for international partnerships. We invite global venture capital funds and technology leaders to invest in Türkiye's entrepreneurial potential and build long-term partnerships."
Olpak: "The next decade will belong to the companies and countries that earn trust"
Nail Olpak, President of DEİK, emphasised that innovation and digital ecosystems would be among the main drivers of economic growth in the years ahead:
"Türkiye has strong entrepreneurial potential, supported by its young and digitally skilled population, growing domestic market, robust digital infrastructure and public incentives. Yet achieving global success requires us to look beyond price alone when assessing competitiveness. I call this the ‘competition of trust'.
"Trust is built by keeping promises, delivering on commitments on time and providing solutions at critical moments. In digital markets, trust is a tangible competitive advantage. The next decade will belong to the companies and countries that earn it.
"Through our 153 Business Councils, DEİK connects entrepreneurs with markets, investors and business partners around the world. By supporting their global ambitions through our international business network, we aim to help ideas born in Türkiye grow into global companies."
Aksoy: "We are building stronger bridges to support Turkish entrepreneurs' global success"
Batu Aksoy, Executive Board Member of the DEİK/Türkiye–U.S. Business Council, said that the true measure of an entrepreneurial ecosystem lay not only in the number of startups it produced, but also in how many became sustainable global businesses, accessed international markets and developed into global success stories. Noting that Türkiye was increasingly demonstrating that it had what it takes, Aksoy said:
"At DEİK and TAİK, we support Turkish entrepreneurs in accessing these opportunities. Our message to entrepreneurs is simple: Be bold, think big and enter the U.S. market. Take your innovations to Silicon Valley and showcase your products to the world. We stand ready to mobilise all our resources to turn connections into partnerships and bring concrete collaborations to life.
"Today, Turkish engineers and technology leaders hold significant roles at some of the world's leading companies, including Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Apple. The impact of Turkish talent is growing, particularly in artificial intelligence. At TAİK, we will continue working to share your achievements with the world and build stronger bridges between you and Türkiye's technology ecosystem."
Çilingir: "GO! GLOBAL aligns entrepreneurs' ambitions with investors' priorities"
Hande Çilingir, Board Member of DEİK/TAİK, Leader of its Digital Task Force, and Co-Founder and CEO of Insider One, said:
"For centuries, Istanbul has connected East and West, bringing together civilisations, cultures and ideas. Today, AI companies and technology unicorns emerging from this region are reinforcing Istanbul's position as a global capital of entrepreneurship. This potential is reflected in the momentum our ecosystem has gained in recent years: The number of startup funding rounds in Türkiye rose from 135 in 2024 to 208 in 2025. Startups founded by the Turkish diaspora raised USD 1.1 billion across 41 funding rounds in 2025.
"GO! GLOBAL connects the exceptional entrepreneurs and AI talent behind these achievements with investors who have the capital, experience and vision to help them build companies that shape industries and create value for generations.
"While building a global technology company outside Silicon Valley, we experienced firsthand how meeting the right investor at the right time can change a company's growth trajectory. Entrepreneurs need investors who believe in their vision as much as they need capital, while investors need to identify high-potential companies early. Ensuring that these connections are built on shared goals is critical to global success.
"We developed GO! GLOBAL's precision-matching model to align entrepreneurs' ambitions with investors' priorities before meetings even begin. In doing so, we accelerate the formation of the right partnerships and their translation into investment and global growth.
"Last year, the global investment capital represented at GO! GLOBAL stood at USD 500 billion; this year, it rose to USD 800 billion. We cannot afford a brain drain. We must create more opportunities for our brightest talent to continue building in Türkiye and expanding into the world."
Kurttepeli: "Turkish entrepreneurs have the potential to help shape the AI transformation"
Emre Kurttepeli, Chairman of Endeavor Türkiye, recalled that their initial ambition had been to see at least one unicorn emerge from Türkiye, before that ambition grew to three and then ten. Highlighting the importance of artificial intelligence, he said that the ownership and control of data would become a major challenge over the next five to ten years.
Noting that two unicorns had emerged from Türkiye this year, Kurttepeli said:
"When we look back, we see that major shifts are needed to create this kind of impact. There were, for example, excellent presentations on the gaming industry. What happened in gaming was a fundamental shift: The ‘free-to-play' model emerged, and mobile became mainstream. This gave rise to our mobile gaming industry. Gaming had existed in Türkiye for 30 years, but it had never reached today's scale. A similar development took place in fintech, where Türkiye's highly developed banking sector helped generate numerous startups."
Global technology leaders met with Turkish entrepreneurs in Istanbul
Designed to help technology companies founded in Türkiye enter international markets and access global capital, the summit provided a platform for new partnerships between Türkiye's entrepreneurial ecosystem and international investors. More than 200 pre-arranged, one-to-one meetings between entrepreneurs and investors took place during the summit.
Trendyol, Peak Games, Dream Games and Insider One, all of which emerged from Türkiye and achieved unicorn status, were highlighted among the companies shaping global competition in their respective sectors. Companies such as fal.ai and HubX also demonstrated the ability of talent from Türkiye to build widely used AI products and global businesses.
One of the summit's headline speakers, Uber Chief Financial Officer Balaji Krishnamurthy, reflected on Uber's journey to global scale in a session moderated by Hande Çilingir. He shared insights into international expansion, capital allocation and operational management.
The programme featured global institutions including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), IFC and EBRD, alongside leading figures from the international investment community: Sascha Guenther of General Atlantic; Joe de Pinho, Partner at Riverwood Capital; Udayan Goyal, Co-Founder of Apis Partners; and Fadi Ghandour, Executive Chairman of Wamda Capital. Representatives from Speedinvest, Hustle Fund, Quest Ventures and MEVP also participated.
In the technology and AI sessions, Emre Okçular of OpenAI, Yusuf Efe of Google DeepMind, Mahmut Demir of Apple, Derya İşler of Salesforce, Ayhan Şebin of IBM and Cengiz Pehlevan of Harvard University shared their knowledge and experience. Insider One Co-Founder Serhat Soyuerel, fal.ai Co-Founder Görkem Yurtseven and Midas CEO Egem Eraslan discussed their companies' journeys to international growth.
A financing session featuring representatives from Citi and Morgan Stanley explored equity and debt financing options to support technology companies' global expansion, alongside acquisition financing and preparations for an initial public offering.
Founders' Force Day: A dedicated programme for entrepreneurs
The GO! GLOBAL Türkiye programme opened with Founders' Force Day, held at the Bilişim Vadisi Entrepreneurship Office with Terminal Istanbul as its ecosystem partner. Designed for startup and scaleup founders in Türkiye, the programme supported entrepreneurs in developing products, scaling business models, preparing for investment and pursuing growth in international markets.
LP/VC Day: Building long-term capital partnerships
The third day of the programme, LP/VC Day, is set to bring together limited partners (LPs) and venture capital funds (VCs) to develop long-term capital partnerships. The programme aims to encourage international investment in venture capital funds in Türkiye, while helping domestic family offices and institutional investors build lasting partnerships with global funds.
Following opening remarks by Murat Özyeğin, Chairman of DEİK/TAİK, Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Treasury and Finance of the Republic of Türkiye, is scheduled to participate in a fireside chat and a question-and-answer session. The programme will continue with a panel exploring international LPs' approaches to emerging markets and LP–VC dialogue sessions, offering opportunities for meetings and networking to establish new investment relationships.
The summit's sponsors were Akbank, Turkish Airlines, TT Ventures, Doğuş, Finberg, Getmobil, Sahibinden, Uber, Baseak, BBK, Core and Opus. Anadolu Agency (AA) served as the event's Global Communications Partner.
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