EBRD invests in Turkish fintech startup DgPays

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a fresh boost to Turkey's technology sector by investing in DgPays, a digital payment system provider, alongside Goldman Sachs, the global investment bank. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Founded in 2017, DgPays is a banking technology company that powers the digital payment structures of banks and alternative payment channels. It manages 9.2 million credit cards, 3,200 ATMs and more than 150,000 points of sale, in addition to providing innovative financial services and products.

The EBRD investment will support the company’s plans to expand its product and service offerings and to introduce new high-tech products, such as open banking. Open banking allows third-party financial service providers to access consumer banking, transactional and other financial data and has the potential to boost innovation and competition in the banking industry, to the benefit of consumers.

Serkan Ömerbeyoğlu, Founder and CEO, DgPays: “This partnership will catalyse our strategy of expanding our current product and service offerings in line with international trends and introduce the novel and high-tech products we are developing, such as open banking, both locally and in overseas markets.”

Mariia Barsuk, Venture Capital Investment Programme, EBRD: “We are impressed how, in a very short period of time, DgPays has built a sizeable payment software business and secured strategic partnerships with key market players. At the EBRD, we believe that the digital transformation of industries and empowering consumers with innovative solutions are critical parts of economic development. As a shareholder in the company, the EBRD will be supporting Mr Ömerbeyoğlu and his team in their mission and in growing the company to a leading position in Turkey’s fintech space.”

Max Klimov, Partner, Goldman Sachs: “With its tech-savvy young population and talented finance and technology human capital, Turkey is a market that will deliver growth in the fintech space. Payment systems and consumer banking have always been an advanced market where the latest technologies have been available to consumers. We believe that DgPays’ tech infrastructure and sectoral expertise will play a critical role in the continued growth and development of this market and its constituents.”

The EBRD’s Venture Capital Investment Programme aims to support fast-growing, innovative technology companies such as DgPays, by expanding access to venture capital, still nascent in many countries where the Bank invests. The EBRD is an important equity investor in the economies where it invests. To date, it has invested more than €15 billion in the equity of more than 800 companies.

www.ebrd.com