Turkey-based early stage technology investment fund StartersHub is preparing to invest in new companies. Having completed 2022 with 7 investments, including 3 successful projects (Paymes, PulpoAR and Tridi) and fund size of 18.1 million dollars, StartersHub plans to invest in 10 companies this year.
Arda Aşkın, Managing Director of Startershub, made a statement and said, “We have completed 2022, in which we focused especially on B2B companies, with 3 exits and 7 investments, which are very important for the Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem. We aim to invest in 10 startups every year in 2023 and the following years.” said.
Askin, who gave information about the initiatives that have passed,He stated that Paymes was acquired by PayTaps to create a social commerce platform that supports millions of freelancers, artisans, consultants, individual business owners, personal trainers and micro-sellers in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region with instant payment solutions.
Explaining that the company carries out its activities in markets such as Uzbekistan, Jordan and Georgia under PayTaps, Aşkın said, “In addition, PulpoAR’s B2B-focused augmented reality solutions were purchased by Glimpse Group in June 2022. In addition, Tridi, which we brought to our portfolio just 1 year ago, was bought by Xometry and it is our investment that we completed as StartersHub as soon as possible. Apart from exits and mergers, 8 startups in our portfolio increased their valuations by receiving a total investment of 4.2 million dollars from domestic and foreign sources in 2022.” he said.
“We invested $5.1 million”
Stating that they examined more than 2,000 domestic and foreign startups last year, and that they included nearly 500 startups in the first stage evaluation, Aşkın said: “As Startershub, we focus on startups that find answers to real problems with scalable solutions, create real impacts and have the potential to radically change industries. Since the day we were founded, we have invested more than $5.1 million in startups whose business model and vision we believe in.
Focuses on finance, education, cybersecurity and logistics
Noting that they act with the goal of investing in 10 startups every year, Aşkın said, “Segmentify, Cognitiwe, Workiom and Livad, among the startups in HUB’s portfolio, started to take global steps by moving their headquarters to countries such as the United Kingdom, Estonia and the USA. In addition, companies such as Lumnion and Kolaybi opened up to foreign markets by starting their operations in Germany. We are closely involved in B2B sectors such as artificial intelligence, HR technologies, financial technologies, educational technologies, productivity, cybersecurity, developer tools and logistics technologies. We will continue to focus on early-stage technology investments in 2023 and the following years.” he said.