Fongogo, Turkey’s market leader in reward-based crowdfunding, has recently attracted attention with its successful share-based funding. The CMB licensed investment platform announced that it acquired StartupMarket following the pre-Series A bridge investment round led by Sharks & Partners in September 2023.
We will be the largest startup investment platform in the region
With this acquisition, Fongogo gained a very important competitive advantage in crowdfunding by providing access to the wide network of entrepreneurs and investors on the StartupMarket platform. Fongogo, which has reached nearly 3,000 startups and thousands of investors on StartupMarket with the acquisition, has become Turkey’s largest startup investment platform.
Stating that they aim to become the largest crowdfunding platform in the region, Fongogo Chairman Ali Çebi said the following regarding the acquisition: “We are very excited to merge with StartupMarket. While we provide a meeting and interaction platform for startups, investors and solution partners through the Startupmarket channel, we will facilitate access to resources for startups going on an investment tour with Fongogo.
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We aim to contribute to the growth of the ecosystem under our leadership by revealing the synergies between the two platforms. With this merger, ‘To accelerate and facilitate access to resources for enterprises and businesses with the power of the masses; “I can see that we are closer to our mission, which is to create added value by directing resources to correct and sustainable business ideas. May this acquisition be beneficial to the Turkish technology entrepreneurship sector,” he said.
StartupMarket Founder and CEO Serkan Bağçe said the following about the acquisition: “This merger is an important step in our goal of building a strong ecosystem that supports creative projects and entrepreneurship in Turkey. Fongogo’s leadership in crowdfunding fits perfectly with our commitment to driving innovation and discovering promising startups.
Fongogo will continue its recent breakthrough without slowing down. “I can say that the strengthening of the team with the important names of the industry and many other important steps will be announced one after the other in the near future.”
After the merger, Serkan Bağçe became the executive general manager of Fongogo, while Ali Çebi took on the role of manager responsible for venture capital investment funds in addition to his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Fongogo co-founder Ali Tirkeş will continue to serve as the manager responsible for ecosystem collaborations.
After the acquisition, the shares of StartupMarket investor partners were converted into Fongogo shares, creating an investor pool with significant experience in the fields of corporate, entrepreneurship, finance and capital markets.
We plan to provide 500 million TL funding
Stating that approximately 600 Million TL of crowdfunding has been realized in Turkey to date, Serkan Bağçe said, “We see that only 25,000 different investors have invested in crowdfunding so far. Considering the millions of investors in the stock market and coin market, I expect the startup investment market through crowdfunding to grow at least 25 times. “As Fongogo, we have made plans to reach a total funding of 500 Million TL on our platform in 2025,” he said.