Trendyol
Who is?
Trendyol, which was established in 2010 to provide its customers and sellers with a perfect e-commerce experience, is today Turkey’s leading e-commerce company, one of the world’s leading platforms, and also Turkey’s first Decacorn. Trendyol also supports women’s participation in the digital economy, domestic production and producers, by digitizing tradespeople and SMEs, making them reach more customers and helping them grow their businesses. Thus, it makes a significant contribution to the growth of the country’s economy and to the increase of employment.
Trendyol continues to grow and create value with Trendyol Tech, one of the leading R&D centers of our country, Trendyol Express, the fastest growing transportation network, Trendyol Go, which provides grocery and food delivery services, and Dolap, the largest second-hand product platform.
The First Decacorn: Trendyol
The leading e-commerce platform Trendyol, the first Decacorn of Turkey, was founded in Istanbul in 2009 by Demet Mutlu. Trendyol, which also uses the name Trendyol Group, operating with the transportation network Trendyol Express and the R&D center Trendyol Tech, embodies various services such as instant grocery and food delivery via its own Trendyol Go courier network, its Trendyol Pay digital wallet, and a second-hand goods app Dolap. The company, which started out selling only textiles, now offers thousands of products in many categories, including furniture, electronics, food and cosmetics. Trendyol has expanded its services and products in parallel with its growth and has become the largest e-commerce marketplace in Turkey with a 34% market share. [1]
Successfully integrating e-commerce, payment systems and delivery capabilities, Trendyol’s rapid rise has attracted the attention of foreign investors. Six months after its establishment, Trendyol managed to acquire an investment from the leading US company Tiger Global. [2] In 2018, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group became a shareholder and strategic partner of Trendyol with an investment of $728 million. [3] With the capital increase in 2021, Trendyol reached a valuation of $9 billion and became one of the Turcorns. Trendyol has increased its valuation to $16.5 billion with a $1.5 billion investment in its latest investment round, making it the first Turkish Decacorn to exceed a $10 billion valuation. With this investment round SoftBank Investment Advisers, which has invested in many e-commerce platforms in the world, ADQ and Princeville Capital, which are major investors in the region, have made their first investments in Turkey. [4] Thus, important investors from Asia, Europe, America, the Middle East and Turkey took part in Trendyol’s shares.
Trendyol, the startup that has attracted the most foreign investment to our country, is expected to accelerate foreign investment by increasing international interest to the Turkish startup ecosystem.
[1] “Digital Landscape in Turkey.” Euromonitor, April 2021.
[2] “Trendyol’a Tiger Global’dan 4.3 Milyon TL Yatırım Geldi.” Webrazzi, 23 July 2010. https://webrazzi.com/2010/07/23/trendyola-tiger-globaldan-4-3-milyon-tl-yatirim-geldi/
[3] “Alibaba Trendyol’a 350 milyon dolar yatırım yaptı.” BloombergHT, 21 April 2021. https://www.bloomberght.com/alibaba-trendyol-a-350-milyon-dolar-yatirim-yapti-2278870
[4] “SoftBank’s Debut Turkey Deal Draws $1.5 Billion for Trendyol.” Bloomberg, 9 August 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-09/softbank-s-debut-turkish-deal-reels-in-1-5-billion-for-trendyol#xj4y7vzkg
