Entrepreneurs seem to need to look no further than tech startups, whose success has been a true inspiration to many.
PayPal could be cited as the best example given the magnitude of the impact it has created in the ecosystem. The financial technology giant has proven to be such a factor that it led to the creation of “PayPal Mafia”, one of the most influential “clubs” in Silicon Valley.
The term refers to a group of founders and early investors in PayPal who, after the company was sold to eBay in 2002, created several vital startups, eventually becoming some of the valley’s most prolific investors.
Peak Games can be said to have had a similar impact in Turkey since it gained unicorn status in 2020 as the country’s first-ever multi-billion dollar company.
It has somewhat transformed the Turkish startup scene, shedding light on the country’s emerging technology promise for global investors and urging young entrepreneurs to find their own businesses.
Some of its early stage investors are the same people who played a key role in setting up Trendyol, one of Turkey’s largest online marketplaces.
Peak became Turkey’s first unicorn after its acquisition by US gaming giant Zynga in a $1.8 billion deal in mid-2020.
Peak features a story of how a successful startup turned into a school, leading to the birth of multiple new ventures, a fact that has been visually echoed by the ecosystem monitor, startups.watch. It turned out to be such a factor that 80 people whose paths crossed with Peak founded 65 different startups.
Twenty-eight of them are gaming, in addition to 25 startups in various industries.
The influence not only appeared to affect various industries, but also helped Turkey secure itself a top position in Europe. Peak has played an important role in leading Turkey beyond its peers to become the most invested country in Europe in the first half of 2022 when it comes to investment in gaming ventures.
According to data from startups.watch, a record $333 million in capital was poured into 13 Turkish gaming companies from January to June.
Fastest Unicorn
Early investors had built on multiple ventures even before Peak became a unicorn.
The founders of Dream Games, a mobile gaming startup that last year turned out to be Turkey’s fastest unicorn ever, are all Peak Games alumni. The company reached a valuation of one billion dollars in less than two years last year.
Dream Games had made a name for itself with a record seed investment and was founded a year before Peak reached the status of a multi-billion dollar company. It rose to prominence after the launch of its first game, Royal Match.
Dream Games proved that Peak investment was far from coincidence, as it wasn’t long before the valuation reached $2.75 billion in January this year.
remarkable success
Hakan Baş and Rina Onur Şirinoğlu were among Peak’s former top executives and partners who have made a name for themselves as entrepreneurs and investors in the ecosystem.
Şirinoğlu, co-founder of Peak and general partner of the venture capital fund 500 Istanbul, became co-founder and CEO of Spyke Games, a company that raised $55 million in a seed round in January this year. It is the largest seed round to date for a startup from Turkey.
The casual gaming startup made a name for itself after it launched its first game, Royal Riches.
As for Baş, a co-founder of Peak, he managed to land a $7 million investment as the founder and CEO of Ace Games.
Entrepreneurship is transferable
Startups.watch founder Serkan Ünsal highlighted the huge interest that arose after they shared a chart showing all the initiatives started by the early Peak employees.
“The term ‘PayPal Mafia’, used to illustrate the most contagious success in the US, emerges as ‘Peak Mafia’ in Turkey,” Ünsal said.
“The chart, which everyone is talking about, shows how self-confidence has increased among entrepreneurs who have gained unicorn and decacorn experience. My advice to entrepreneurs is: as a school, look at the company where you work, leave your comfort zone when the time comes and raise the bar to a higher level,” he noted.
“Let me go even further. we can say that unicorns will be created in two to three years by those who are part of Trendyol, Getir and Insider.
Influence on entrepreneurship of institutions
The entrepreneurship ecosystem continues to grow, in parallel with ever-increasing investments in mobile internet and investments in fiber infrastructure.
Peak has had games developed for mobile operators from the start. A significant portion of gaming initiatives are gaining success thanks to mobile games.
High-speed internet infrastructure has become very important for startups developing mobile games. The companies have reached a level where they are more valuable than the telecom companies that develop the infrastructure they use.
Türk Telekom’s venture capital firm TT Ventures is one of the investors in the ecosystem. Türk Telekom, one of the leading information and communication technology companies in Turkey, is also running an acceleration program PILOT.
In short, institutions are expanding their presence and accelerating their investments. According to data from startups.watch, one in four startups has received funding from institutional venture capital funds.
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