Turkish Mükellef nabs $1 million to help entrepreneurs set up business

After one of the most significant financial technology investments in Turkey when the fully digital stock brokerage app Midas raised $11 million in a seed round in February this year, Istanbul-based fintech Mükellef has received an investment of $1 million at a valuation of $20 million.

The round was led by venture capital firm Finberg and joined by Oyak Asset Management, Colendi, hiVC and six angel investors. As an online platform that allows entrepreneurs to manage company establishments and all financial processes in Turkey, the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union states, the startup is contributing to the growth of the venture ecosystem in the countries where it enters. The company plans to foray into Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, Malta, Montenegro and Hungary by the end of 2022.

The number of individual entrepreneurs will surpass the number of employees in the next 10 years. It is this particular trend, that the Turkish startup is betting big on. According to Okan Şafak, founder, Mükellef, the platform was established three years back to support entrepreneurs to manage all their needs from a single point of view. “Even those working in the largest corporations are switching to the freelancer working model after an average period of 2 years. It is of great importance for entrepreneurs to be able to incorporate and manage a company without the need for a physical space, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to enable individual entrepreneurs who want to operate in the U.S., the U.K., Turkey, and the EU,” Şafak said.

He added: “We aim to further develop our services and strengthen our position with strong business partners such as Wise, American Express, KPMG Spark and Mercury Bank in all markets where we exist.”

Ihsan Elgin, member of the board, Finberg, added: “After our investments in fintech startups that provide innovative finance solutions to large institutions – such as Birleşik Ödeme (United Payment) and Colendi – we focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the basis of the economy. We continue to deepen our solution ecosystem by adding the Mükellef to our investments in Figopara, Ikaspos and Normaya, which make their lives easier.”