EBRD invests in the rapidly growing Turkish tech company, obilet.com

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested in obilet.com, the online sales platform for users to purchase bus and airline tickets. EBRD, which offers financing for thousands of projects to support local growth in European countries, has invested $11 billion in Turkish businesses and projects to date. Earlybird Venture Capital, an investor in obilet.com, announced that it will also participate in the next round of funding.

Yigit Gurocak, CEO - obilet.com, said that the company aimed to provide services to different segments of the transportation industry by expanding its teams in 2020 with the support of new investments.

The company, currently at 400 million visitors, aims to sell 18 million tickets in 2020!

obilet.com, which offers comparison and purchasing options for bus and airline tickets of more than 150 bus operators and 1000 airlines, was founded in 2012 by two university students and entrepreneurs, Ali Yilmaz and Yigit Gurocak. The company's CEO Yigit Gurocak summarized the last seven years, "Starting from its inception to the present day, obilet.com recorded outstanding growth to reach 400 million visitors, now ranks the top-visited travel site in Turkey."

The initiative of two entrepreneurs' dreams, obilet.com currently operates with 160 employees and is expected to maintain its growth in the Turkish travel industry, which reportedly has a size of approximately $15 billion. Yigit Gurocak said that the company aims to sell 18 million tickets in 2020 on obilet.com and the mobile app in Turkey, where 300 million tickets are sold in total.

The Turkish startup to receive highest international funding

According to Startups Watch data, obilet.com stood out as the Turkish startup to receive the highest amount of international funding in 2018 Q2 and when the investment was acquired in November 2019, it was the largest amount of investment of 2019 up until that point. With the participation of EBRD in the latest round, obilet.com has received its fourth investment round in the last five years leading the Turkish technology and travel sectors in this aspect. With this investment, obilet.com raised $10 million within one year.

Named "Europe's Best Travel App" by Mastercard in 2015, obilet.com ranked eighth among the fastest-growing companies listed in the 2017 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program with a growth rate of 1041%. Most recently, obilet.com was also listed among Turkey's 100 Fastest Growing Businesses according to the results of a 2019 survey conducted by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV).