More than 300 startups from Turkey received a total investment of over $1.5 billion last year, breaking the record of all time, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said Tuesday.

He said, accordingly, Turkey "was promoted to the highest league in Europe."

Varank was speaking in a video message he sent to the 6th New Generation Entrepreneurship Summit started under the title "Unicorn Age" and was organized by the weekly economy magazine of Turkuvaz Media Group, Para.

Varank stated that until a few years ago, Turkey was unfamiliar with the term "unicorn" and reiterated that in the Industry and Technology Strategy announced in 2019, the target of creating at least 10 unicorns by 2023 was set.

Stating that six unicorns – startups with a valuation of over $1 billion – have emerged from Turkey to date, Varank said, "Two of them reached the decacorn level, that is, a valuation of over $10 billion."

"This of course aroused great excitement about the potential of our entrepreneurial ecosystem both at home and abroad," he said.

Noting that such successful developments took place during the heaviest period of shocks such as the pandemic, Varank said that "Turcorns," which were produced in an environment where production and trade almost came to a standstill, are the sign of a new generation economy for the country.

Varank uses the term "Turcorn" to describe Turkish "unicorns."