The e-commerce company Trendyol has become the country’s first “decacorn” after receiving new foreign investments.
Following a new USD 1.5bn investment round led by the US-based investment fund General Atlantic and Japanese SoftBank Vision Fund 2 — one of the biggest global funds investing in technology firms — Trendyol’s valuation reached USD 16.5bn.
In business, a decacorn is a privately held startup company valued at over USD 10bn.
Earlier this year, Trendyol’s valuation reached USD 9.35bn after receiving an investment worth USD 350m from global e-commerce company Alibaba, which is its main shareholder.
In the latest investment round, SoftBank, ADQ, and Princeville Capital invested in the country for the first time.
Demet Mutlu, the founder of Trendyol, said the “investment will increase international interest in Turkey’s digital ecosystem and accelerate our sector’s development seriously.”
Melis Kahya Akar, General Atlantic’s general manager for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, said there is a big potential for accelerating the growth of Trendyol on a regional and global scale.
