Turkish mobility app Marti set to announce New York IPO, sources say

According to sources familiar with the matter, Turkish mobility super app Marti is set to announce a SPAC merger with Galata Acquisition Corp, a blank check company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. If the claims turn out to be true, Marti will become the first Turkish company to list in New York via a SPAC deal.

As reported by Bloomberg, the companies have been holding negotiations for months now and will announce the deal in the upcoming weeks, the sources who wanted to remain anonymous said. 

Founded in 2019 by Oguz Alper Oktem and Sena Oktem, Marti’s mobile app has been downloaded over 8 million times and provided 40 million scooter, electric bike and moped rides so far. The company currently operates with nearly 55,000 vehicles in twenty cities across Turkey.

Last year, the company raised $30 million from investors including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Actera, the largest private equity firm in Turkey, in a Series B funding round which valued the company at nearly $100 million. 

The sources said that Marti will use the public offering proceeds to expand its services to more areas and increase the number of its electric vehicles.

Last year, Turkish e-commerce giant Hepsiburada.com was valued at $3.9 billion in the first Turkish Nasdaq IPO ever. One of its biggest rivals Trendyol also became the first decacorn from Turkey after raising $1.5 billion at a $16.5 billion valuation.