Organized by Etohum, the 5^th Startup Turkey Conference is set to take place on February 15 – 17 in Antalya, where leading startup founders, business angels and investors will meet and mingle in one of the region’s most exciting markets.

50 of Turkey’s very best startups are expected be present at the event, from a total of 600 attendees which includes 100 investors.

Occupying one of the most strategic locations in the world, Turkey represents a vibrant internet economy characterized by strong growth in online shopping, the result of a large youth population familiar with new technology and solid economic growth, with online goods sales expected to grow at 54% between 2012 and 2016 (excluding inflation). The iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index Fund, which measures Turkey’s investment ‘attractiveness’, is up 55% this year and the market has earned investment grade status.

Regionally Turkish companies and investors have shown strong interest to expand in the region. MarkaVIP for example received funding from Turkish entrepreneur Caglar Erol, while Saudi social games giant Kammelna Games was recently acquired by Peak Games, one  the fastest growing emerging markets games company in the world.

The list of speakers includes Miles Kirby (Qualcomm Ventures), Niko Bonatsos (General Catalyst), Barış Aksoy - Intel Capital), Richard MacManus (Readwrite), Omar Christidis (Arabnet), Kıvanç Onan (Paypal), Mete Güney (Mastercard), Habib Haddad (Wamda) and Sidar Şahin (Peak Games) among many others.

Also present at the event will be investors from General Catalyst, Qualcomm Ventures, Intel Capital, Ilab, 212, 3TS, Hummingbird, Earlybird, EBRD, Simile Venture, Ventech, Inovent, Inventram, BIC Angel Investments, String Ventures, Angel networks and 100s of angel investors 

Presentations & Networking

Seed stage along with early and developed internet companies selected during the course of the year will make presentations during the conference. Leading angel and corporate investors of Turkey on the other hand will be able to enjoy a day on the golf course on Sunday (last day of the event) where they will have the chance to meet one another and carry out networking activities.

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