Turkey's Bold Move: Are Startups Ready for a Shocking AI Revolution? You Won't Believe What’s Next!

Türkiye is taking significant strides to establish its own sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, aiming to better serve local businesses and reduce dependence on foreign technology solutions.

At the forefront of this initiative is Mehmet Uner, strategy advisor at Ena Venture Capital. Speaking at the recent Take Off Istanbul 2025 startup event, Uner emphasized the fund's commitment to fostering Türkiye's homegrown AI capabilities by investing in early-stage AI startups throughout the country, as reported by News.Az and Anadolu.

“We are participating in Take Off Istanbul with four companies,” Uner noted, highlighting the diverse projects targeted by the fund. These include Orbina, which specializes in agentic AI; Enlighty, which focuses on customer and market insights; MagicPay, a developer of payment processing systems; and CloudFlex, which offers hybrid cloud computing infrastructure.

Uner took particular pride in Orbina's contributions, especially in the finance sector, where it collaborates with insurers, banks, and governmental organizations. “Orbina is one of our proud investments,” he remarked. “It helps institutions work more efficiently by automating tasks.” A standout feature of Orbina is its Turkish large language model (LLM), designed to create AI agents that provide tailored support in Turkish, addressing a crucial gap in local language processing.

Another notable investment by Ena Venture Capital is in Nuvena, a company dedicated to constructing Türkiye’s sovereign AI infrastructure. Uner pointed out that many AI startups the fund supports currently face significant infrastructure challenges, relying heavily on foreign solutions. “We realized that to address this gap, we need to build our own sovereign AI infrastructure in Türkiye,” he explained. “This will empower startups to meet their needs domestically instead of seeking resources abroad.”

The ambitious goal of the Nuvena project is to establish robust data center capacity in Türkiye and create an AI infrastructure layer that bolsters the country's entire technology ecosystem. “With our sovereign AI layer, we want Turkish companies to fulfill their capacity and hardware needs locally,” Uner concluded.

This development reflects a broader trend in the tech industry, where nations are increasingly prioritizing self-sufficiency in advanced technologies. By creating its own AI infrastructure, Türkiye seeks to enhance its competitive edge, support local innovation, and mitigate the risks associated with over-reliance on foreign tech solutions. As the global AI landscape continues to evolve, Türkiye's proactive approach may serve as a model for other nations striving for technological sovereignty.