Investment Stage:  Early-stage fundraisings (mainly late-seed to Series-A), as well as co-participations into late-stage growth capital rounds  

Ticket Size: Ranging from $250,000 to $3,000,000  

Target Sectors: Fintech, E-commerce, B2C/B Marketplace, B2B SaaS 

Who we are? 

Aventio MB, founded by Omer Unsal and Onur T. Kurugol in 2016, is a merchant banking platform providing companies with access to smart capital through its network of exited founders, C-suite executives as well as vertical-expert advisors primarily from the fintech, e-commerce, and B2C marketplace communities.  

Track Record 

Since 2012, Aventio MB-backed investments collectively returned 45.4% US Dollar-based net IRR to its GP and investors. Majority of our investments have been focused on the technology industry with one exception in a food packaging industry generating a net IRR of 21.6% at the time of exit in July 2016. We no longer focus on non-technology-enabled investments but may continue to assess opportunities from time to time.

Within the nine Aventio MB-backed investments there are three companies over $100m valuation and five exits. 

Since its inception, Aventio MB founders invested in the following technology and technology-enabled businesses: 

1. Digital Media/B2C: Mackolik, Turkey's highest independent traffic generating app serving consumers real-time sports information and content [during the time of our investment]. Invested as part of Perform Media's acquisition in June 2012 and exited in May 2016. 
2. B2B Software: Voicera (WrappUp), a voice-enabled deep-tech business assistant. Invested as an angel in April 2016 and exited to Cisco in September 2019. 
3. Fintech: Jewel Paymentech, KYC, and AML software provider for banks and fintech companies in SEA. invested as part of pre-Series A financing in June 2018. 
4. Fintech: KOIN, Brazil’s first founder-owned BNPL provider. invested as part of Series A financing in December 2018 and exited to Decolar.com. 
5. Fintech: Minka, cloud-based open, real-time payment network operating in Colombia and Mexico. Invested as an angel in December 2018. Minka is backed by Kaszek, Mastercard, Fintech Collective, and a series of fintech LatAm and US-based fintech payments experts. 
6. B2C/B e-Commerce: Garajsepeti, a second-hand auto marketplace for consumers and auto galleries in Turkey. Invested as part of Series A in November 2019 and exited to Kavak of Mexico in September 2021. 
7. B2C e-Commerce: WufWuf, UK’s largest subscription-based pet box delivery platform. Invested as an angel in August 2020 and followed through in two seed-stage investments in April 2021 and January 2022. 
8. B2C e-Commerce: Kavak, the largest second-hand auto marketplace operating in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, KSA backed by globally renowned investors such as Tiger Global, BOND, Softbank, Greenoaks, D1 Partners, Founders Fund, and Ribbit. Invested as part of Series D in 2021. 
9. Fintech: Silverflow, new age acquiring and processing software fintech serving payfacs, merchants, banks. Invested in Series A in October 2021. Silverflow is backed by Coaute and renowned fintech founders in Europe and the US. 

Key Differentiators 

We are careful operators and not deal pushers. We bring forward investment opportunities where we have an equity interest in the companies for at least six months or have been following the progress of the potential targets for a long-time. We also believe in the power of exit, meaning we select visibly exit-able investments.

Aventio MB combines Odin Financial Advisors' technology investment banking advisory capabilities with vertically expert growth capital. Aventio MB opened its London office in 2017 focusing on fintech, enterprise software, e-commerce software, marketplace investments while Odin Financial’s advisory teams provided portfolio companies in key executive hires (CFOs in particular), financial reporting and analysis implementation, data room management, fundraising process management disciplines, growth capital fundraising process management, portfolio M&A, and management of the exit processes. 

Investment Strategy 

Aventio MB is not a constant investment idea pusher of technology companies. We are careful growth investors where we spend time with founder(s) in helping to grow their businesses. We only invest in verticals where we have deep understandings such as, fintech, e-commerce, B2C marketplaces. 

We bring forward investment opportunities to LPs based on the completion of all of the following criteria; 

1. We are early-stage investors in companies where we spend ample time with the founder(s), know the management team well, have closely experienced the progress of the company as an investor; 
2. There is more than one exit path for the company outside of an IPO or private-public direct placement; 
3. Founders are deeply embedded in the company with no outside interests other than the investee company; 
4. There is a strong Board and - or advisor culture in the Company, or in the least, there is high determination to form a strong Board; 
5. Company is either willing to become a vertical leader in its core market or building stellar tech to help solve an issue within its operating industry vertical or fulfilling consumers' needs in wider, lesser competitive geographies. 

Geographic Focus and Target Market 

Our investment program includes companies operating in the UK, Europe, and Turkey (with majority USD or EUR revenues to offset FX risks). We will also be assessing Fintech opportunities in Africa, SEA, and LatAm from time to time and may bring these to our investors’ attention. We may also collaborate with renowned VC and PE funds and allocate a portion of the investment through the Aventio MB Syndicate funds. As we are not deal pushers, we source and evaluate our deals elaboratively. Our deals are sourced from our prominent network of experts consisting of C-suite executives, successful startup founders, business experts, top-class fund managers, and highly experienced angel investors. We prioritize working with Turkish founders based in the UK or Europe since we believe that the Turkish startup ecosystem proved itself that it’s on the verge of stepping up to the next level and can successfully draw the appetite of globally recognized technology industry focused investors.

In 2021, 60 foreign investors realized investments into Turkish startups, 60% of which being first time investors in the Turkish market. These foreign investors include well-known funds such as Balderton Capital, Elevator Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Goldman Sachs, Index Ventures, Softbank, Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake and Tiger Global. In the MENA region, Istanbul placed 2^nd behind Tel Aviv in terms of both the number of deals and total realized investment volume, surpassing Dubai on both these metrics. With its young and tech-savvy population, Turkey offers great potential to be an important player in the European startup ecosystem. In the last two years, Turkish startup funding significantly increased, and Turkey took firm steps towards becoming a regional technology hub. In 2020, Turkish startups raised $148m in 200 deals, compared to $1.5bn in 294 deals in 2021. In 2021 Getir alone raised $984m, but even when Getir’s fundings are excluded, Turkish startups received 284% increased funding YoY. 

Additionally, Istanbul is becoming a strong gaming hub and an important software exporter in recent years. In 2021, Turkish gaming startups received $265m funding across 52 deals. In January 2022, Dream Games received $255m funding in series-C funding followed by Spyke Games which raised $55m in seed-stage funding -one of the largest gaming seed funds raised globally. Besides gaming, the Turkish startup eco-system also received strong investments in fintech, proptech, blockchain, and deeptech verticals worth $197m in 2021 across 68 deals.   

There are currently five announced Turkish unicorns: 

• Trendyol, the leading e-commerce marketplace of Turkey, being the sole decacorn, raised $350m at a post-money valuation of $9.35b in April 2021, and $1.5b at a post-money valuation of $16.5b in August 2021. In the latest two rounds, Trendyol managed to attract top-tier global investors such as General Atlantic, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Princeville Capital, ADQ, and QIA.  
• Getir, the on-demand grocery delivery startup, raised $300m in March 2021- which was led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital- and reached the unicorn status with a $2.6b valuation. Just after three months, Getir raised another $555m and increased its valuation to $7.5b. In its latest round, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital made follow-on investments while Silver Lake and Mubadala Investment Company joined as new investors. Getir is currently operating in nice countries: Turkey, the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, and the US.  
• Hepsiburada, the online shopping giant of Turkey, was valued at $3.9b in Turkey’s first NASDAQ IPO which took place in July 2021. The company is positioning itself as a super-app; with 43 million products available on the platform, a massive logistics network offering two-hour delivery, and an “AliPay-like” payment service called HepsiPay. 
• Dream Games, a mobile game development company that develops mobile puzzle games, raised $150m Series-B funding led by Index Ventures and Mark Fund, which made Dream Games the fastest Turkish company to reach the unicorn status (23 months) with $1b valuation. In January 2022, Dream Games increased its valuation up to $2.75b by managing to raise $255m Series-C funding from Index Ventures, Makers Fund, BlackRock, IVP, Kora, and Balderton Capital. The first game of Dream Games, Royal Match, was one of the most revenue-generating mobile games in the world and made the top 10 charts in the US, the UK, and other prominent markets.  
• Peak Games, a mobile gaming company, was acquired by Zynga for $1.8b in June 2020. With this acquisition, Peak Games became the first Turkish unicorn exit and set up an important milestone for the rising of the Turkish startup ecosystem.  

Targeted Returns 

Aventio MB is an exit-oriented syndicate that invests in companies with clear exit paths, preferably having more than one option outside of an IPO or private-public direct placement. Throughout its investments, Aventio MB targets a 3-4x+ MOIC and a 40%+ US Dollar-based net IRR.