The Curious Case of the Engineers Who Taught Turkey to Invest

By Jeremy Rodgers, Founder of Contentifai How two engineers built a fintech empire from $500k by turning Turkey's investment market from fool's gold into digital treasure.

In Greek mythology, King Midas's touch turned everything to gold, a blessing that became a curse when he couldn't eat, drink, or embrace his loved ones. In modern Turkey, a different Midas has performed an equally transformative feat, but this time the golden touch is democratising wealth rather than hoarding it. The fintech startup Midas has turned 2 million Turks into investors in just three years, proving that sometimes the best disruption comes not from financial insiders, but from engineers who see a broken system and simply decide to fix it.

The Kingdom of Barriers

When electrical engineer Egem Eraslan returned to Turkey after working in Boston, he discovered a financial kingdom that seemed designed to keep its citizens out. In 2020, only 1.5 million people in this nation of 80 million were investors, a penetration rate that would embarrass most developing economies. The barriers were absurd: $25 per transaction fees for US stock trades, $25,000 minimum balance requirements, and a five-day onboarding process that felt more like applying for a mortgage than opening an investment account.

"Mobile banking in Turkey is very good and widespread," Eraslan told TechCrunch, "but there was a lack of investment in equities products because of a lack of infrastructure." This wasn't just a technology problem; it was a generational injustice. While Turkish millennials watched their global peers build wealth through fractional shares and commission-free trading, they were locked out by legacy systems that treated investing like an exclusive club for the wealthy.

The irony wasn't lost on Eraslan. In a country where inflation regularly hits double digits (reaching 50% by 2022), Turks desperately needed investment options to protect their savings. More than half the population already stored wealth in foreign currencies as a hedge against the volatile lira. Yet the very tools that could help them grow that wealth remained frustratingly out of reach.

Building the Golden Infrastructure

Unlike the mythical Midas who received his power from the gods, Eraslan and co-founder Umut Bozkurt had to build their transformation engine from scratch. With less than $500,000 (pocket change by Silicon Valley standards) they created something that would have cost Western fintechs millions: complete self-clearing, self-custody, and self-execution infrastructure.

"We had to launch multiple products with our own self-clearing, custody and with the entire value chain," Eraslan explained. "If you're Robinhood, you don't have to do self-custody or self-clearing." This wasn't a choice; it was necessity. Turkey's financial infrastructure simply didn't offer the plug-and-play solutions that American or European fintechs take for granted.

The engineering feat they pulled off was remarkable. They slashed fees from $25 to $1.50 per trade, eliminated minimum balance requirements entirely, and compressed the onboarding process from five days to under ten minutes. By April 2021, when Midas launched with a massive waitlist, they had created Turkey's first truly digital brokerage, one that made "download-to-first-trade in less than 10 minutes" a reality.

The Golden Generation

The transformation Midas triggered reads like a financial fairy tale. Within their first year, over $100 million was traded on the platform. By 2024, they had 2 million users, more than doubling Turkey's entire investor population. But the most striking statistic isn't the growth rate; it's the demographics. Half of Midas users are first-time investors under 30. While nationally only 30% of Turkish investors are under 35, on Midas that number jumps to 70%.

This isn't just market expansion; it's cultural revolution. Midas didn't just make investing cheaper. They made it comprehensible. The company produces daily podcasts, weekly newsletters, detailed company profiles, and educational content that breaks down market complexities in digestible Turkish. They're not just processing trades; they're teaching an entire generation how to build wealth.

The impact is measurable in cold, hard cash. In 2023 alone, Midas saved Turkish investors $70 million in commissions. For young Turks facing 50% inflation, this platform isn't just convenient. It's essential financial armour against currency devaluation.

From Seed to Series A: The Midas Touch Attracts Gold

Investors recognised the alchemy at work. Just eight months after inception, Spark Capital and Earlybird Digital East Fund (now Bek Ventures) led an $11 million seed round, one of the largest fintech seed investments in Turkish history. The real validation came in April 2024 when Portage led a $45 million Series A, the biggest ever for a Turkish fintech. The funding was so significant that Nasdaq celebrated it on their Times Square billboard, a moment of recognition that would have seemed impossible just three years earlier.

But perhaps the most impressive feat? Midas hit profitability in 2023. In an industry where growth-at-all-costs is gospel, these engineers built a sustainable business while revolutionising an entire market.

The Expanding Kingdom

Today, Midas is expanding beyond equities into cryptocurrency, mutual funds, and high-yield savings accounts. They're also looking beyond Turkey's borders to other emerging markets where similar barriers lock out retail investors. Their infrastructure-as-a-service model already powers investment offerings for one of Turkey's largest banks, with more partnerships in the pipeline.

"We believe every consumer finance company should work on growing their customer's wealth, and Midas is here to help," Eraslan declared. It's an ambitious vision, but given their track record, not an unrealistic one.

The Real Midas Touch

Unlike the cursed king of myth, this Midas has created prosperity that can be shared, not hoarded. By building infrastructure where none existed and simplifying processes that were needlessly complex, two engineers have given millions of Turks the tools to protect and grow their wealth.

For European fintech founders facing their own regulatory mazes and infrastructure challenges, the Midas story offers a powerful lesson: sometimes the biggest opportunities lie not in competing with existing systems, but in building entirely new ones. With just $500,000 and a clear vision, it's possible to transform not just a market, but an entire nation's relationship with money.

In mythology, King Midas learned too late that true wealth isn't gold you can't share. Turkey's Midas understood this from the start, building a platform that turns financial barriers into bridges. That's a transformation worth more than all the gold in ancient Phrygia.

At Contentifai, we believe the most compelling fintech stories come from understanding both the human challenges and technological solutions. Through our human+AI approach to content creation, we help financial services companies tell their transformation stories in ways that resonate with audiences and inspire action. Whether you're disrupting traditional banking or building infrastructure for the future, we can help articulate your vision clearly and compellingly.

References:

TechCrunch, "Equities platform Midas raises $45M Series A as fintech retains its sparkle in Turkey", April 19, 2024

PR Newswire, "Meet Midas, Turkey's first retail investing startup, which has raised $11M Spark Capital, Earlybird Digital East and Nigel Morris", February 7, 2022

Tech.eu, "Appealing to the next generation of investors, Turkey's Midas raises $11 million in seed round", February 9, 2022