By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Dijitalpark Teknokent, a Turkish technology development zone, launched the 2025 version of its thematic program for financial technologies, named FINEXT, to improve and support local startups.

The program, which received high demand last year, aims to create new fintech “unicorns” this year, a press release from the Teknokent said Tuesday.

A unicorn is a privately held startup company with a valuation exceeding $1 billion.

Recalling that the fintech market reached $218.8 billion last year, it said the Turkish fintech market's size was at $194 million in 2024 with a total number of fintech firms of over 900.

With the FINEXT program, startups entered the accelerator program to develop solutions that will make a global difference in financial technologies.

The program offers a 14-week acceleration process specifically designed for entrepreneurs aiming to commercialize innovative ideas in financial technologies.

As part of the program, startups benefit from comprehensive opportunities such as mentorship, mini-MBA training, investor meetings, cloud infrastructure support, and access to international collaboration networks.

Tahsin Engin, general manager of Dijitalpark Teknokent, said at the opening ceremony Tuesday: "With new startups, we can say that Türkiye has become a financial technologies hub.”

"Seven unicorns have emerged in our country. A large portion of these unicorns took their first steps in tech parks."

He added that FINEXT, which leads entrepreneurs developing fintech technologies, will eventually hold a significant position within this structure.