Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ pumps funds into Turkish ecommerce giant Trendyol

Dubai: Turkish ecommerce platform Trendyol has raised $1.5 billion from a number of high-profile investors, including Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ, which values the company at $16.5 billion. Other investors included General Atlantic, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Princeville Capital and Qatar Investment Authority.

China’s Alibaba is the largest investor in Trendyol and invested $350 million in the company in March. “The funding proceeds will support Trendyol’s growth both within Turkey and internationally,” said Demet Suzan Mutlu, Trendyol’s founder. “Trendyol will continue its investment in nationwide infrastructure, technology and logistics, accelerate digitalisation of Turkish SMEs”

Founded in 2010, Trendyol serves more than 30 million shoppers and delivers more than 1 million packages per day. “We will leverage our strong team, our world-class technological capabilities, and Turkey's strengths in manufacturing and logistics to become a leading player in EMEA and to create new export channels for Turkish merchants and manufacturers,” said Evren Ucok, Trendyol’s Chairman.

What are investors saying?

“Trendyol seamlessly integrates ecommerce, payments and delivery, with deep industry expertise in sectors such as fashion, with a unique consumer offer that we believe will be highly scalable across new markets and geographies,” said Anthony Doeh, Partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers. “As an investor in ecommerce platforms globally, we are excited to partner with Trendyol and look forward to supporting the Company’s journey as one of EMEA’s emerging digital champions.”

Investment firm Princeville has also backed the company. “Great management teams build one-of-a-kind great technology companies,” said Emmanuel DeSousa, Managing Partner at Princeville Capital.

Citi acted as Trendyol’s exclusive financial advisor and placement agent in the transaction.