Running a Business in Turkey? Here Are the Government Grants for AI Investment (KOSGEB & TÜBİTAK 1711)

"We'd love to invest in AI, but the budget just isn't there." You'll hear some version of that sentence from at least two out of three small and medium businesses in Turkey. According to Turkey's national statistics institute (TÜİK), high cost is the second most common reason Turkish companies give for not adopting AI. Here's the part most business owners miss: over the past year or two, the Turkish government has quietly rolled out a series of AI-focused grant and loan programs specifically to close that budget gap.

If you run a business in Turkey, whether you're a Turkish founder, an international entrepreneur who's relocated here, or a foreign company with a Turkish subsidiary, here are the government grants available for AI investment. This guide walks through the two main channels that are live as of 2026: support from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB), Turkey's main SME support agency, and the AI Ecosystem Call known as "1711" run by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), the country's national science and technology funding body.

A quick note before we dive in: grant amounts and support ratios change with each call period. Treat the figures below as a starting point and always confirm current numbers on KOSGEB's and TÜBİTAK's official websites before you apply. Everything here is sourced from official program documentation.

What AI-focused support does KOSGEB currently offer?

KOSGEB's most direct answer to AI investment in 2026 is its AI Loan Program, launched in July 2026. It offers interest-free, commission-free loans ranging from 500,000 TL to 5,000,000 TL. Alongside it sits KOBİGEL (the KOBİ Development Support Program), a broader, general-purpose grant that also covers AI investments among other digitalization projects.

Who qualifies for the AI Loan Program?

This loan isn't open to every small business. It's reserved for holders of the Technology Startup Badge ("Teknogirişim Rozeti"), a status Turkey grants to registered technology startups. If you're running a traditional business without that badge, you'll need to either apply for it first or look at general programs like KOBİGEL instead. The loan can be used for high-performance computing infrastructure, secure data storage systems, and access to AI tools. Applications are accepted through KOSGEB's official program page through December 31, 2026.

How does KOBİGEL work as a general-purpose grant?

KOBİGEL skips the startup-status requirement. Any manufacturing or service-sector SME pursuing a digitalization project, AI included, can apply, provided they meet Turkey's SME criteria (more on that below). The support ceiling and ratio shift with each call period: personnel costs are typically covered in full as a non-repayable grant, while equipment and software costs are covered partially, either as a repayable loan or a mixed grant-and-loan structure. Projects can run 8 to 36 months, with a possible 4-month extension. The catch is timing: you can only apply while the relevant "Project Proposal Call" is open, so it's worth checking KOSGEB's call calendar regularly rather than assuming the door is always open.

What is the TÜBİTAK 1711 AI Ecosystem Call?

Unlike a typical grant you'd apply for solo, TÜBİTAK 1711 is awarded to a consortium. The idea is to pair a business that needs an AI solution with a technology company that can build it, plus a university or public research institution, and push the result toward a commercial product. The 2026 call has already funded 61 projects for a combined 353.7 million TL, which tells you two things: the program is being taken seriously, and the competition for it is real.

Who can apply, and how?

Applications require at least a three-way consortium: a "customer organization" that needs an AI solution (this can be a company in any sector), an SME-scale technology provider that will build the solution, and a university research lab or public research center. TÜBİTAK's Artificial Intelligence Institute also needs to be part of the consortium. In practice, this means you can't walk in as a lone SME saying "we need AI." You need to line up a technology partner and a university connection first, which is exactly the kind of partnership model that firms like YZ Uzman get pulled into as the technology-provider piece of a consortium.

What are the support rates and budget limits?

The project budget ceiling is 10,000,000 TL, with a maximum project duration of 24 months. Support ratios vary by organization size: large customer organizations can have 60 percent of eligible costs covered, SME-scale customer organizations get 70 percent, and research institution expenses are covered at 100 percent, subject to a cap tied to the total budget. Eligible cost categories include personnel, travel, equipment, software, R&D services, and consulting.

The 2026 call's application window runs from June 15 to September 18, 2026, and submissions go through TÜBİTAK's PRODİS/eTEYDEB online system. Before applying, the consortium is required to hold a preliminary meeting with TÜBİTAK's Artificial Intelligence Institute and prepare a "Letter of Intent." Applications that skip this step aren't evaluated, so treat it as a hard prerequisite, not a formality.

What conditions do you need to meet for KOSGEB support?

Under Turkey's SME definition, updated in August 2025, a business qualifies as an SME if it employs fewer than 250 people and its annual net sales revenue or balance sheet total doesn't exceed 1 billion TL. Within that, there are three tiers: micro businesses have fewer than 10 employees and turnover under 10 million TL, small businesses have fewer than 50 employees and turnover under 100 million TL, and medium-sized businesses have fewer than 250 employees and turnover under 1 billion TL. This update raised the thresholds compared to previous years, which means more companies now qualify for KOSGEB support than before, including some foreign-owned subsidiaries operating in Turkey that meet these size criteria.

How does the application process work, step by step?

The first step for any KOSGEB program is registering with the KOSGEB Database. This is done through e-Devlet (Turkey's e-government portal) using a Turkish ID number and password, entering details like business name, tax number, social security registration number, and activity code. Your business needs to already be registered with Turkey's Revenue Administration before you can complete this step. One practical detail worth flagging: the registration session times out after 15 minutes, so have your documents ready before you start.

After database registration, you'll fill out an SME Information Declaration, then submit your online application for the specific program you're targeting, whether that's KOBİGEL or the AI Loan Program, while that period's call is open. TÜBİTAK 1711 works differently: you'll need to first line up your consortium partners, hold the preliminary meeting with TÜBİTAK's Artificial Intelligence Institute, and then prepare your application file through the PRODİS system.

Why do applications get rejected, and what mistakes should you avoid?

KOSGEB publishes its own list of common mistakes, and most of them are administrative rather than technical. The most frequent issues: preparing an application without carefully reading the scope of that period's call, budgeting general business expenses that aren't directly tied to the project, misclassifying cost items, and mismatches between the amounts declared and the pro forma invoices submitted.

A few other things worth avoiding: submitting on the last possible day, which runs into system congestion; leaving forms incomplete, which gets an application excluded from evaluation outright; and spending money before the official project start date, which is never eligible for reimbursement regardless of the invoice. Cash payments aren't accepted either. Every expense needs to go through a bank and be properly documented. Most of these mistakes are avoidable simply by reading the call text line by line before you touch the application form.

Should you consider other support programs too?

For AI projects with a heavier R&D component, TÜBİTAK's 1507 (SME R&D Starter) and 1501 (Industrial R&D Projects) programs are worth a look. These offer non-repayable support of up to 75 percent for smaller-budget R&D projects at SME scale. Which program actually fits your business depends on how close your project is to commercialization, whether you're willing to build a consortium, and how large your budget is. Before applying, it's genuinely worth having a direct conversation with your regional KOSGEB or TÜBİTAK office rather than trying to figure out the right form on your own; a five-minute call can save you weeks of rework.

Which program fits which budget and scenario?

The right answer depends largely on how mature your project is and how big your budget needs to be. For a relatively small, single-workflow pilot, say a chatbot or a document-processing automation, a general-purpose KOSGEB program like KOBİGEL is usually the more practical starting point. If you're a Technology Startup Badge holder needing infrastructure or computing power specifically, the AI Loan Program's interest-free terms make it particularly attractive.

On the other hand, if your project has real commercialization potential and naturally involves multiple stakeholders, a university, a technology provider, and your business as the customer organization, TÜBİTAK 1711's budget ceiling of up to 10 million TL is a far more meaningful fit. The general pattern that emerges: fund a small, fast pilot through KOSGEB, and fund a large, partnership-driven product through TÜBİTAK.

Frequently asked questions

Are KOSGEB grants repayable or non-repayable? It depends on the program. The AI Loan Program is structured entirely as a loan (interest-free, but still repayable). Under KOBİGEL, personnel costs are generally non-repayable while equipment and software costs are partly repayable. Check the specific call text for the exact ratios before you apply.

Can I apply to TÜBİTAK 1711 alone, without a consortium? No. The program specifically requires a joint application from a customer organization, a technology provider, and a research institution. Applications without this three-way structure aren't evaluated.

How long does it take to get a decision? KOSGEB programs typically finish evaluation within a few months of the call closing. Consortium-based calls like TÜBİTAK 1711 tend to take longer since multiple organizations' contributions are reviewed together. For exact timing, check the specific call announcement you applied under.

Do I need a consulting firm to apply? No, your business can submit the application directly. That said, the technical language in the forms and the cost-classification rules trip up a lot of first-time applicants, so working with a technology partner who has already run a KOSGEB- or TÜBİTAK-backed project tends to prevent most of the common administrative errors.

So what should you actually do next?

• Confirm which SME tier you fall into. Your employee count and turnover determine which programs you're even eligible for.
• Complete your KOSGEB Database registration now. Do this before a call opens so you're not scrambling once the window is live.
• Start lining up 1711 partners early. Building a consortium takes time. Reach out to potential technology providers and university contacts before the application period opens.
• Read the call text line by line. Most rejected applications fail on scope or cost-classification issues that a careful read would have caught.
• Verify current figures with official sources. Support amounts and ratios shift between call periods. Check kosgeb.gov.tr and tubitak.gov.tr immediately before you apply.

Government support won't erase the budget hurdle standing between you and an AI investment, but it can meaningfully lower it. The "high cost" barrier that TÜİK's data points to is, with the right program, a solvable problem rather than a permanent one. What matters most is correctly matching your project's stage to the right program and starting the paperwork well before the deadline crunch. Matching your project's stage to the right program is the part most applicants get wrong; if you want a sounding board for that decision, reach out before you start the paperwork.