What Is Venture Capital Investment Fund (GSYF)?
A Girişim Sermayesi Yatırım Fonu (GSYF) is a Türkiye-domiciled venture capital fund, established under Capital Markets Board rules, that pools money from qualified investors and invests it in start-ups.
A GSYF has no separate legal personality: it is a pool of assets managed by a licensed portfolio management company in line with the fund rules and issuance document. Its units are issued to qualified investors rather than offered to the public, which places it closer to a limited partnership fund in other jurisdictions than to a listed vehicle.
Formation, portfolio restrictions, custody and reporting are governed by the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu, SPK). Fund assets must be held by an authorised custodian and the fund is subject to independent audit, which is what makes the structure acceptable to institutional and foreign investors.
For an international sponsor, the GSYF is the standard onshore answer to the question of how to run a Türkiye-focused venture capital programme with local investors. It provides a recognised framework for capital commitments, co-investment, exit planning and investor reporting.
The tax consequences of the structure, and the obligations that attach to certain categories of Turkish taxpayer when they acquire fund units, are set out separately in legislation and are revised from time to time. Fund formation is therefore handled as a combined legal and tax structuring exercise rather than a filing task.