Making sense of the East-West divide in tech

THANKS TO AVC venture-capital () boom, it is no longer unusual to find tech unicorns, as unlisted startups valued above $1bn are known, springing up in middle-income countries. However, two coming from Turkey are particularly strange creatures. First, they are big. Trendyol, an e-commerce company, is valued at $16.5bn, giving it the status of a “decacorn” worth $10bn or more. Getir, a pioneer of “superfast” grocery delivery, is reportedly close to joining that select group. Second, they are battle-hardened. Both come from a country wracked by inflation, currency instability and barmy economic policies, any of which can be kryptonite for investors. Most striking, their founders bear no resemblance to archetypal tech bros. Trendyol’s Demet Mutlu is a 39-year-old woman. Getir’s Nazim Salur is a 60-year-old man.And yet look closely at their two companies, now worth more than almost any listed firm in Turkey, and the differences outweigh the similarities. Fittingly for a country that sees itself as a gateway between the Orient and the West, their view from the Bosporus is Janus-like. One takes its inspiration from China, the other looks to Europe and America. One shuns the spotlight. The other craves it. One wants to turn women into go-getters. The other has the male-sounding mantra of “democratising the right to laziness”. They encapsulate several different dimensions of the tech divide. That makes them intriguing to compare and contrast.