Rasmal Ventures and Bilişim Vadisi Collaboration builds startup bridge between two nations

Rasmal Ventures, Qatar’s first institutionally backed investment firm and an investor trusted by sovereign wealth funds including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has signed a three‑year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bilişim Vadisi, one of Türkiye’s largest technology development zones. The agreement, signed at GITEX Türkiye in Istanbul, creates a structured channel for startups, investors and corporates between Türkiye and the Gulf and formally links Rasmal’s regional capital reach with Bilişim Vadisi’s Terminal Istanbul entrepreneurship hub, which is being developed to host more than 10,000 technology companies.

“Türkiye is one of the most exciting startup stories in the world right now, and the Gulf holds one of the largest pools of patient capital anywhere,” said Soumaya Ben Beya Dridje, Partner at Rasmal Ventures. “This partnership with Bilişim Vadisi lets us connect the two at ecosystem scale — giving Turkish founders a real bridge into GCC markets and capital, and our region access to some of the best engineering talent in the world. It reflects exactly how we work: we validate market access before we commit capital.”

What the MoU covers

The memorandum establishes a framework for collaboration across several practical areas designed to accelerate two‑way engagement between Türkiye and Gulf markets. Key elements specified by industry sources include:

• Joint innovation programmes to pilot and scale technologies across both markets;
• Investor and B2B matchmaking to connect founders with Gulf capital and corporate partners;
• Knowledge exchange and capacity‑building initiatives to transfer skills and operational know‑how;
• The two‑way flow of startups, experts and networks, enabling Turkish companies to access GCC markets and Gulf investors to tap Türkiye’s engineering and industrial base.

The pact formalises and broadens Rasmal Ventures’ existing engagement with Türkiye’s innovation economy. Rasmal was the lead investor in Roamless’s USD 12 million Series A — the Türkiye‑rooted travel connectivity company that describes itself as building the world’s first truly global mobile operator — demonstrating Rasmal’s prior investments and interest in Turkish founders. The MoU with Bilişim Vadisi converts that bilateral track record into an ecosystem‑level arrangement intended to streamline market access on a larger scale.

For Bilişim Vadisi, the agreement strengthens Terminal Istanbul’s role as a cross‑continental gateway. “Terminal Istanbul was built to make Türkiye a gateway between continents for entrepreneurs and investors,” said İsmail Erkam Tüzgen, CEO of Bilişim Vadisi. “Partnering with an institutional investor of Rasmal Ventures’ calibre extends that gateway directly into one of the world’s most dynamic capital markets, and opens new opportunities for the startups and companies across our ecosystem.”

Outlook

Over the coming months the two organisations plan to define specific programmes, pilots and activities under the MoU, with a focus on connecting founders, investors and corporates across the Gulf–Türkiye corridor. If executed as described, the collaboration will provide Turkish startups a clearer route to GCC capital and commercial partners while offering Gulf investors a managed channel into Türkiye’s deep technical talent pool and industrial networks — a practical bridge intended to increase cross‑market deal flow and commercial partnerships over the three‑year term.