The Memo #1: 500 Istanbul

A deep dive on 500 Istanbul, one of the rising stars in Europe and very top performing funds in the whole 500 Global network ❤️‍🔥

The Memo [TL:DR version]

500 Istanbul is one of the rising stars in Europe and one of the very top performing funds in the whole 500 Global network. We’re amazed by what they’ve managed to create with their $ 10M Fund 1 raised in 2016 and how they’ve managed to become a dominant player in Turkey. They’re nothing short of a beacon in the rapidly growing Eastern European startup ecosystem.

The 500 Istanbul team. World class 👆

Fund I run-down

• Fund size: $ 10.6M, 4.7x Gross TVPI & 53% IRR 🤯
• 40 investments in founders from 11 countries with a cumulative $ 500M annualized revenue & 97% of the revenue coming from foreign markets.
• 85% raised follow-on, $ 1.1B+ raised (and counting) and 5 exits created. Downstream investors counting funds tier-1 like Sequoia, GV, Riverwood, Brookfield and many more undisclosed to the public.
• For every € 1 Enis and his team put in, follow-on investors came in with a whopping € 125 😲
• General Partner team consisting of Enis Hulli, Rina Onur Sirinoglu, Arin Özkula and their ferocious team members are Esat Acar, Kaan Eren, Tunya Irkad, Ece Taşkınçay 💪

Fund II run-down

Now let’s look at Fund 2, which is a € 50M fund dedicated to leveraging the Turkish and Eastern European region’s opportunities:

• Fund size: € 50M, targeting replication of fund I’s success.
• Currently € 35M committed with all LPs from fund I re-investing. The LP-base counts 25 founder-LPs, 3 European & Global GPs as well as one of Europe’s renowned emerging VC specialist fund of funds.
• 25 initial investments of € 250k to € 1M investments (average of € 500k) & follow-ups of € 1.5–2M (60–70% being reserved for follow-ons).
• Investment strategy tailored to the Turkish & Eastern European startup ecosystems focusing on Geo-arbitrage and Technology transfer leveraging 500 Istanbul’s unique access to global SF-based funds.
• Main change in strategy from Fund I is a higher reserve allocation, which is implemented in a co-lead & follower strategy with growth-stage investor Arin Özkula having joined the GP in Feb 2021 to lead the implementation of the follow-on strategy.
• Access to the best founders is ensured through a renowned brand & reputation, solid track-record, and global connections. This is coupled with a massively aggressive deal sourcing strategy with every team member sourcing deals 50% of their time & an approach of guaranteeing founders GP-presence at any second meeting held — and an investment decision within 3 weeks.

Join our investment club to dive deeper & meet the Enis Hulli.