Trendyol

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Trendyol
Company type Private
Industry E-commerce
Founded2010;15 years ago (2010)
Founder Demet Mutlu
Headquarters
Istanbul
,
Turkey
Owner
Website www.trendyol.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Footnotes /references
[1]

Trendyol is an e-commerce platform based in Turkey, with its headquarters in Istanbul. The company was founded in 2010 by Demet Mutlu. [2] Trendyol is a private company, operating in the fashion and retail sector in e-commerce area.

Contents

As of 2024, the Chinese company Alibaba Group was the company's largest shareholder, holding 70% of shares.

History

Trendyol was co-founded by Demet Mutlu (pictured in 2013) in 2010. Demet Mutlu.jpg
Trendyol was co-founded by Demet Mutlu (pictured in 2013) in 2010.

Trendyol was co-founded by Demet Mutlu, Evren Üçok, [3] and Begüm Tekin, [4] in 2010. [5] Üçok is the Chairperson, [5] Erdem Inan is the CEO, [6] and Çağlayan Çetin is the President. [7]

Dolap was founded in 2016 as a second-hand product trading platform and acquired by Trendyol in 2018. [8] 1.4 million individual sellers are currently active on Dolap.

Trendyol Express was founded as a delivery network in 2018. [9]

The company's Trendyol Tech group was approved as a research and development centre in 2019 by the Ministry of Industry and Technology. [10]

On 12 July 2023, Trendyol took over sponsorship of the Süper Lig and TFF First League football leagues from Spor Toto, by paying ₺700.000.000. [11]

In 2024, the company launched its first in-house large language model, [12] won in the "e-export" category at the Turkish Exporters Assembly's award ceremony, [13] and co-organized an e-commerce hackathon in Adana Province for Teknofest. [14]

Funding and ownership

Six months after Trendyol was founded in 2010, American firm Tiger Global invested in the company; subsequent investors included the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and American venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. [15] Alibaba Group has invested $1.4 billion in Trendyol. Alibaba invested an initial $728 million dollars in 2018 [16] and followed with an additional $350 million at a $9.4 billion valuation in 2021. [17] [18] [19] In August 2021, Trendyol raised $1.5 billion at a $16.5 billion valuation; [20] Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), General Atlantic, Princeville Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 were among funding round participants. The investment was SoftBank's first in Turkey and Trendyol became the first Turkish business to be named a decacorn (valuation exceeding $10 billion). [21] [22] Alibaba has a 70 percent stake in Trendyol, as of 2024. [12]

Operations

In Turkey, the company's app combines a marketplace that uses services from four of the company's groups: the food delivery service Trendyol Express delivered via the courier network Trendyol Go, the digital wallet Trendyol Pay, the customer-to-customer platform Dolap, along with other services. [23]

Trendyol Tech specialises in native language processing; real-time data analysis; machine learning; deep learning; image processing; data visualisation; text simulation and big data. [8]

In 2022, Trendyol became the first Turkish e-commerce business to design a sustainability plan. [24] [25] The company's plan addresses carbon reduction, human rights, packing and production, waste management, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Trendyol also establishes digital centers offering technology training and encouraging smart agriculture practices in rural Turkey as part of the Villages of Tomorrow programme in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, and has dedicated initiatives that support women's empowerment and young artists. [26] [27]

Trendyol had logistics centers in Ankara and an export operation center at Istanbul Airport in 2023. [16]

Investors

Founded with an initial capital of 300,000 USD, Trendyol received investment from Tiger Global and Kleiner Perkins in 2010–11 and EBRD in 2014. [28] Alibaba Group became a shareholder of Trendyol in 2018. Following the investment made by Alibaba, Tiger Global, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and EBRD were withdrawn. Alibaba became a shareholder of the company by acquiring the shares of 3 international shareholders in Trendyol. [29] In August 2021, Trendyol had entered into agreements to raise $1.5 billion from a number of high-profile investors, valuing the company at $16.5 billion. The round was co-led by General Atlantic, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, as well as Princeville Capital and sovereign wealth funds, ADQ (UAE) and the Qatar Investment Authority, the company said. Thus, while Trendyol's valuation increased to 16.5 billion dollars, the company was upgraded to the 'decacorn' category, which is used for companies with a valuation exceeding 10 billion dollars. [30]

Allegations and penalties

Algorithm manipulation

In 2021, the Competition Authority opened an investigation against Trendyol for highlighting certain sellers and products by manipulating their algorithms. In the investigation concluded in 2023 using evidence obtained from August 2017 to September 2021, the company was fined 61 million Turkish liras for systemic algorithm manipulation and unfair use of marketplace data. [31] [32] [33] [34]

Bribery allegations

After the E-Commerce Law was published in the Official Gazette of Turkey Republic in 2022, [35] Trendyol was accused of paying unregistered money to Cumhuriyet Newspaper in exchange for negative press against the law. [36] This accusation was not accepted by the newspaper. [37] Cumhuriyet Newspaper Foundation filed a criminal complaint against the officials of the period, alleging that they "received unregistered money" in exchange for manipulative news against the e-commerce law that came into force in January 2023. [36]

References

  1. ↑ "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "Trendyol'un kurucusu, 'Genç Küresel Lider' seçildi". Milliyet (in Turkish). 23 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Rota Portföy Evren Üçok ile ortak oldu". Dünya . 15 August 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "Trendyol ve UNDP'den kırsal kalkınmada, "Yarının Köyleri" projesi". Anadolu Agency . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  5. 1 2 Azevedo, Mary Ann (9 August 2021). "Turkey's first decacorn: Trendyol raises $1.5B at a $16.5B valuation". TechCrunch . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "Trendyol takes place among 'game-changing' global fashion brands". Daily Sabah . Turkuvaz Media Group. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  7. ↑ Nair, Manoj (6 July 2024). "Turkey's biggest shopping platform Trendyol is ready to take on Amazon, noon in GCC". Gulf News . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Hande İzmirlioğlu: 1 milyar doları yakalarız". 30 November 2019.
  9. ↑ "Kotayı böyle aştılar". 21 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Trendyol'dan Ar-Ge'ye 45 milyon TL'lik yatırım". Sabah.
  11. ↑ "Süper Lig ve 1. Lig'in İsim Sponsoru Trendyol Oldu". tff.org (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  12. 1 2 Alomar, Dana (15 October 2024). "Trendyol launches its first LLM and accelerates expansion in the Gulf". The National .
  13. ↑ "Trendyol receives inaugural Türkiye's e-export champion award". Daily Sabah . 9 June 2024.
  14. ↑ "Trendyol hosts e-commerce hackathon at TEKNOFEST 2024". Yeni Şafak .
  15. ↑ "Turkey's e-commerce giant Trendyol enters European market". Daily Sabah. 2 October 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Alibaba'nın Türkiye'ye yapmayı planladığı yatırım hakkında neler biliniyor?" (in Turkish). BBC News. 18 September 2023.
  17. ↑ "Trendyol due to become Turkey's first 'decacorn' with $16.5B valuation". Daily Sabah. 29 July 2021.
  18. ↑ "Alibaba Trendyol'a 350 milyon dolar yatırım yaptı" (in Turkish). Bloomberg News. 21 April 2021.
  19. ↑ "China's Alibaba invests $350 mln in capital increase to Turkey's Trendyol -trade registry". Reuters. 20 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "SoftBank's Debut Turkey Deal Draws $1.5 Billion for Trendyol". Bloomberg News. 9 August 2021.
  21. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (9 August 2021). "Turkey's first decacorn: Trendyol raises $1.5B at a $16.5B valuation". TechCrunch .
  22. ↑ Tavsan, Sinan (9 August 2021). "SoftBank investment in Trendyol creates Turkey's first decacorn". Nikkei Asia .
  23. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (9 August 2021). "Turkey's first decacorn: Trendyol raises $1.5B at a $16.5B valuation". TechCrunch .
  24. ↑ Yıldız, Gökhan. "Trendyol, sürdürülebilirlik yol haritasını açıkladı". Anadolu Agency.
  25. ↑ Mareš, Michael (27 September 2024). "Česko je skvělý trh, už teď jdeme pozdě, říká šéf Trendyolu. Turecký obr se chlubí největší módní nabídkou". Hospodářské noviny . ISSN   0862-9587.
  26. ↑ "With new offices in Riyadh and Dubai, Trendyol expands presence in region". Arab News. 21 October 2024.
  27. ↑ "UNDP, Trendyol to jointly support digital development of Turkish villages". Daily Sabah. 7 November 2022.
  28. ↑ "Trendyol". Archived from the original on 12 December 2022.
  29. ↑ "Alibaba'nın Trendyol yatırımı ile hangi yatırımcılar çıkış yaptı?". 29 June 2018.
  30. ↑ "Trendyol received new investment, its valuation was 16.5 billion dollars – Market Agenda". 9 August 2021.
  31. ↑ "DSM Grup Danışmanlık İletişim ve Satış Ticaret AŞ hakkında Yürütülen Soruşturmaya İlişkin Nihai Kararın 4054 sayılı Rekabetin Korunması Hakkında Kanun'un 49. Maddesi Uyarınca Açıklanması" [Announcement of the Final Decision Regarding the Investigation Conducted on DSM Group Consultancy Communication and Sales Trade Inc. in Accordance with Article 49 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition](PDF) (in Turkish).
  32. ↑ "Rekabet Kurumu DSM Sonuçları". 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  33. ↑ "Rekabet Kurumu'ndan Trendyol'a ceza". BloombergHT (in Turkish). 27 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  34. ↑ "Self-Preferencing by Algorithm Manipulations and Use of Third-Party Seller Data". ACTECON. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  35. ↑ "ELEKTRONİK TİCARET ARACI HİZMET SAĞLAYICI VE ELEKTRONİK TİCARET HİZMET SAĞLAYICILAR HAKKINDA YÖNETMELİK". www.resmigazete.gov.tr. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  36. 1 2 "Cumhuriyet Vakfı'ndan Cumhuriyet gazetesi yönetimine suç duyurusu: Çikolata kutusunda gelen paralar karşılığında kasıtlı haberler yapıldı!". T24 (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  37. ↑ ""Para karşılığı manipülatif haber" iddiasında Cumhuriyet gazetesi ile Genel Yayın Yönetmeni'nden farklı tonda açıklamalar". T24 (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
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