Chinese Internet Titan Invests $1.4 Billion in Turkey Through Trendyol
Chinese internet giant Michael Evans has committed to a $1.4 billion investment in Turkey via Trendyol, the country’s largest e-commerce platform. Evans expressed confidence in Turkey’s economic fundamentals and supported Trendyol’s global expansion plans.
Trendyol achieved a valuation of $16.5 billion in 2021 following investments from prominent entities such as SoftBank Group, General Atlantic, the Qatar Investment Authority, and the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ.
In 2021, Turkey initiated an antitrust investigation into Trendyol, and in July, the Supreme Court passed legislation to increase regulation on e-commerce companies. This move aimed to help smaller e-commerce businesses compete more effectively. Trendyol was fined $2.3 million in July for allegedly using third-party vendor data to give preferential treatment to its own retail operations.
