Borusan Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Borusan Ventures is the standalone corporate venture capital arm of Borusan Group, a diversified Turkish industrial conglomerate with roughly 80 years of history, about 14,000 employees, operations in 11 countries and around $8 billion in consolidated revenue. The fund backs early-stage technology companies in mobility, logistics, production, supply chain and energy, with a recurring emphasis on applied AI for heavy industry. The pitch to founders is access to Borusan's networks and operating businesses, domain expertise, speed (a standalone fund with autonomy to decide quickly) and long-term value creation beyond capital. Managing Partner Timo Kilp describes the fund as a strategic bridge and the eyes and ears for Borusan Group companies.
Stage Focus
Early stage, mainly Seed and Series A. The fund usually joins rounds led by specialist venture firms rather than leading itself. Examples of participation: Fourier's Series A (led by General Catalyst), Omen's seed (led by CRV) and Series A (led by Nava Ventures), and Causa Prima's seed alongside QED Investors, FJ Labs, Creandum and Kfund.
Check Size
Not published on the website. Check size and fund size are unverified; third-party databases list the firm but give no reliable figure. Left blank rather than guessed.
Lead Tendency
Mostly a participant or follower. The public record shows Borusan Ventures alongside lead investors in every disclosed round found, so lead tendency is set to follows with moderate confidence.
Recent Activity
The fund was founded around 2023 and made its first investment in DC Connected (AI virtual technician and remote diagnostics for automotive). Since then it has built an eleven-company portfolio listed on its site. Recent public items include participation in Causa Prima's seed round, Omen's Series A, Fourier's Series A, and Archimetis's venture round. Third-party trackers also list newer deals (for example Bluecore Energy) that are not on the firm's own portfolio page and were not included because they are not confirmed by a primary source. The fund appears to be actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
- Archimetis: AI-powered operational reasoning for heavy industry
- Atana: critical minerals exploration
- Beams: simpler and greener home renovation
- Causa Prima: agent-to-agent AI network for B2B finance
- DC Connected: AI virtual technician and remote diagnostics for automotive
- Everstar: AI compliance platform for the nuclear industry
- Flai: AI agents for automotive dealerships
- Fourier: on-site, on-demand hydrogen production
- Omen: continuous fluid analysis for machinery and data centers
- Outlast: online scrap trading platform
- Tyba: energy storage simulation and operating platform
No exits are disclosed.
Team
- Defne Kocabiyik Narter, Founder & Chair. Chair of the Board and Dealer Principal at Borusan CAT; board member at Borusan Otomotiv and Borusan Pipe.
- Timo Kilp, Managing Partner and head of the fund. Previously principal at Yamaha Motor Ventures ($300M AUM), and earlier at Sony Innovation Fund and JetBlue Technology Ventures.
- Oguzhan Yildiz, Associate. Sources and evaluates deals, supports diligence; previously Strategy & Business Development at Borusan Holding.
- Tolga Turgut, Venture Development Advisor. Group strategy and M&A at Borusan; leads partnerships between startups and group companies.
- Advisors and investment committee: Deniz Emre Dag (Group Chief of Strategy), Girish Nadkarni (former CEO of TotalEnergies Ventures), Ebru Dorman (board member, NATO Innovation Fund), Levent Kocabiyik (Borusan Holding board), Emir Ozmen (Borusan EnBW Energy).
Decision Process
A small investment team with an investment committee made up of Borusan executives and outside corporate-venture advisors. The fund describes itself as agile with autonomy to decide quickly. Exact timeline is not published.
Founder Preferences
Founders building technology that can be piloted or adopted by Borusan's businesses in steel, machinery, automotive, logistics, ports and energy. Deck submissions are accepted through the website contact form. Strategic fit with the group is likely a meaningful factor, as is a strong lead investor alongside.
Geographic Focus
United States and Europe, with the fund based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Portfolio companies are in the US, Germany, UK and elsewhere in Europe. Turkey is the parent group's home market but not the fund's investing focus.