GITEX AI Türkiye 2026: $50 Billion Walks the Istanbul Floor

Hoş geldiniz, and greetings from Istanbul

Something big is about to land in Istanbul, and we at AIMOJO are proud to be an official media partner for it.

GITEX Ai Türkiye takes place on 9 to 10 September 2026 at Istanbul Expo Center, Hall 2, and doors open 10:00 to 18:00 on both days.

Two days. One hall. Every layer of the artificial intelligence value chain in one place, from silicon and sovereign cloud through to the founders shipping models out of Turkish technoparks.

The show theme reads “From Industrial to AI, Igniting Intelligent Economies,” which tells you exactly where the programme points. Not AI as a demo. AI applied to factories, banks, marketplaces and grids.

$50 Billion of Assets Walking the Floor

More than 100 investors from 20 nations, holding US$50 billion in assets, will meet startups incubated inside Türkiye's technoparks.

Names already listed on the investor wall include Gobi Partners, Alchemist, Molten Ventures, Oxx, ACT Venture Partners, Boğaziçi Ventures, DOMiNO Ventures, Eczacıbaşı Momentum, Eksim Ventures, Turkven, Zorlu Capital, Türkiye Development Fund and inDrive.

Erdem Dereli, Venture Partner at Gobi Partners, which holds US$2 billion in assets, credits Türkiye with technical depth and a proven record of producing mega unicorns in gaming and e-commerce. His sharper point concerns people, since early wins created a second generation of founders and angel investors who already know how to scale abroad.

The Investor Programme itself is invitation only and subject to approval. Accepted investors get curated matchmaking, pre scheduled one to one meetings through a concierge desk, closed door roundtables, and high quality deal flow across AI, fintech, gaming, e-commerce, industrial tech and deep tech.

Founders raising money should treat the Supernova Pitch Competition as the other door in, with Redington backing it as supporting partner.

Six Power Tracks Shaping the AI Programme

Conference content splits into six tracks, and each one maps to a real budget line.

Wider show verticals stretch across 5G and telecom, cloud and connectivity, defence tech, fintech, gaming, green tech, health tech, quantum, mobility and EVs, and smart manufacturing.

Erhan Ak, CFO at Fark Holding and a headline speaker, argues international investors should look past consumer apps toward sectors where engineering talent meets industrial depth.

His shortlist is industrial AI, fintech, defence tech, mobility, energy tech and enterprise software.

His summary of the opportunity was blunt. AI will “not replace industries, it will redefine them.”

Türkiye's Technopark Pipeline Feeds the Startup Supply

Capital needs startups worth backing. Supply arrives through Türkiye's technopark ecosystem, and several hubs exhibit directly.

YTÜ Yıldız Technopark hosts 750 companies, more than 14,000 R&D staff, 70 AI focused companies and 341 active AI projects. On stand it showcases the Starboard AI platform, including a Techno-Scouting module that scores portfolio companies against more than 60 parameters so investors can shortlist by stage.

Medeniyet Technopark brings its TeknoKöprü Investment Acceleration Programme, which pairs training with direct investor meetings and has already sent delegations to the UK, Qatar, the UAE, Malaysia, Singapore and Morocco.

Antalya Teknokent, Giresun Teknopark, ITU ARI Teknokent and Teknopark Ankara complete the hub lineup, alongside ecosystem partners such as ODTÜ Teknokent, Teknopark İzmir, Plug and Play, Endeavor Türkiye, Tenity and StartupBlink.

Ali Ramazan Tak of Medeniyet Technopark puts the ambition plainly. Türkiye needs deeper ventures, meaning teams that produce AI models rather than teams wrapping somebody else's.

First Speakers Announced for the AI Stage

The lineup keeps growing week by week, and these names are already confirmed.

What AI Founders And Operators Should Prepare?

Below is the AIMojo desk read, not something stated by organisers. Treat accordingly.

Limitations sit alongside all of that. Programming leans toward investment and industry rather than research, no detailed session agenda was published in the announcement, and two days leaves little room beyond scheduled meetings.

Come with a target list.

Final Word

So that is the full picture, and honestly, we are counting the days.

GITEX arriving in Türkiye is not a routine calendar addition. Global capital, national policy, hyperscaler budgets and a young engineering base are all lining up in the same hall at the same time, in a city that has been trading between continents for centuries.

Two days pass quickly. Plan your sessions, pick your side events, leave one evening free for a proper Turkish coffee by the water, because plenty of good deals begin over a shared table rather than a stiff meeting room.

Come find the AIMOJO crew on the floor, say merhaba, and let us swap notes on what is actually shipping. Grab your pass, pack the bag, and we will see you in Istanbul. Görüşürüz.