Insider, a Turkish artificial intelligence-backed marketing platform, was valued at almost $2 billion in a funding round that raised about $105 million, highlighting how AI companies are defying the global tech slump.
(Bloomberg) — Insider, a Turkish artificial intelligence-backed marketing platform, was valued at almost $2 billion in a funding round that raised about $105 million, highlighting how AI companies are defying the global tech slump.
The company, founded in Istanbul in 2012 by six Turkish entrepreneurs, received the financing from the Qatar Investment Authority and Istanbul-based buyout firm Esas Private Equity, Insider said in a statement Wednesday.
“Although the multiples in the world have decreased, Insider’s valuation has increased due to its growing numbers,” Insider chief executive officer and co-founder Hande Cilingir said in a Bloomberg TV interview at the Qatar Economic Forum. “We now exceed $1.5 billion, and are very much closer to $2 billion.”
Artificial intelligence has bucked a global decline in venture capital funding for tech startups since OpenAI Inc. released its ChatGPT bot last year, leading to a flood of interest in the disruptive technology. In one example, Ashton Kutcher, the Hollywood actor and VC investor, announced a new AI fund earlier this month.
Although there are challenges for tech companies attracting new funding, “good companies with good metrics are still fundable,” Cilingir said.
Insider has raised a total of $274 million. In March 2022, it received $121 million in a Series D round from seven investors that valued the company at $1.22 billion.
The company will use the funds for expansion and is “looking forward to one or two acquisitions in Europe and US markets to enhance our technology,” Cilingir said. It is also considering an initial public offering in 2025 or early 2026, she said.
Insider acquired Istanbul-based MindBehind, a conversational commerce and messaging platform, for an undisclosed price earlier this year. It also saw a 280% sales growth in the 12 months through February in North America after enrolling clients like Samsung.
Read More: Sequoia, Qatari Wealth Fund Back Turkish Tech’s Latest Unicorn
After two boom years in 2021 and 2022, tech fund raising in Turkey plunged in January to March to the lowest level in ten quarters. The country’s startups received $56 million in funding from investors in the period from $1.27 billion in the first quarter of 2022, according to Istanbul-based startups.watch data.
Insider’s platform uses artificial intelligence to predict future consumption behavior. It has more than 1,200 clients, including Singapore Airlines, Toyota Motor Corp. and Vodafone Group Plc, in 28 countries.
The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.
(Updates with details in eighth paragraph.)
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