Inside SSTEK: How Türkiye’s Defence Procurement Agency Built a Venture Portfolio Worth Over $1 Billion in Revenue

Most NATO procurement agencies buy capability. Türkiye’s Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) also owns an investment company. SSTEK Savunma Sanayi Teknolojileri A.Ş., wholly owned by the SSB and founded on 9 March 2016, marked its tenth anniversary on 27 January 2026 in Ankara with a set of portfolio figures that show how far the model has travelled.

The numbers

According to SSB President Prof. Haluk Görgün, SSTEK has entered 26 partnerships since 2016. It has exited eight and holds 18 active positions. As of end-2025, SSTEK together with its affiliates reported:

• revenue above USD 1 billion;
• 1,648 employees;
• 114 intellectual property outputs;
• 100 projects;
• R&D investment of TRY 5.656 billion.

The current value of projects run with affiliates stands at around USD 250 million.

A state venture fund inside a procurement ecosystem

The closest Western parallels are In-Q-Tel in the United States or the NATO Innovation Fund, but SSTEK sits closer to the customer: its parent is the agency that writes Türkiye’s defence contracts. That proximity is the point. The company takes equity in firms working on critical technologies, or sets up new ones, and shortens the path from prototype to a programme of record.

SSTEK also runs a venture capital vehicle, the Innovative and Advanced Technologies Venture Capital Investment Fund (YİTF). In 2025 the fund reached 33 investors and a size of USD 29.7 million. It has so far deployed USD 7.75 million and EUR 500,000.

Portfolio examples

Two affiliates illustrate the range. RADARSAN, founded in 2014 at Teknopark Istanbul and a SSTEK subsidiary since 2022, turned sensor-fusion and deep-learning work into Trafidar, an AI traffic enforcement radar now in service with Türkiye’s police and deployed with 150 units in Northern Cyprus in January 2026. DeltaV Uzay Teknolojileri, another affiliate, develops hybrid rocket propulsion for Türkiye’s lunar programme.

Next decade: exports designed in

For 2026-2036 SSTEK set three priorities: faster commercialisation of deep technology, thematic sub-funds to widen its fund architecture, and building export potential into products from the design stage. For European and NATO primes looking at Turkish suppliers, the last point matters most: SSTEK-backed firms are being told to design for foreign customers from day one.

What is not disclosed

The full list of the 18 active holdings, SSTEK’s equity stakes and revenue by affiliate are not published in verified open sources. Envanter Medya reports the figures as stated officially.

Sources: SSB statements at the SSTEK 10th anniversary event (27 January 2026) as reported by C4Defence and Habertürk; SSTEK corporate website; RADARSAN corporate material; Envanter Medya company profile.