What stage does Pragma invest at?

Pragma invests at the Growth, Late Stage stages.

What sectors does Pragma focus on?

Pragma focuses on Sector Agnostic.

Where is Pragma located?

Pragma is headquartered in Istanbul, TR.

Pragma

Private equity

Istanbul · Growth–Late Stage · 10 people tracked

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Find your way into Pragma

148 people in our graph share verified history with the Pragma team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Secil Baysalunlockedknows Değer Şahbaz · together at Boğaziçi University (overlapped)

×6knows the team · via Boğaziçi University

×4knows the team · via Koç University

knows the team · via Izmir Fen Lisesi

✨ Fox Verdict

Investment thesis

Pragma is an investment banking firm specializing in financial advisory for mergers, acquisitions, and investments in high-potential opportunities. It focuses on complex cross-border transactions in Türkiye, representing both buyers and sellers through to closing. Beyond advisory, the firm sources and invests in industrial assets and high-growth technology companies across venture growth, growth equity, and buyout strategies. Its clients include multinational and Turkish companies, supported by a network of senior-level contacts that facilitate acquisitions, partnerships, and investments domestically and internationally.

Invests inSector AgnosticEurope Global Istanbul Turkey

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

Stage

Growth–Late Stage

Istanbul, TR

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2002

Last 12 months

2 investments

Tracked investments

Team · 10 people

from the firm's website

Değer Şahbaz· CEO· Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiyein

Co-founder of Pragma (2002) with over 28 years of investment banking experience across financial advisory, M&A and capital markets. Previously at Global Securities; holds a mechanical engineering degree from Boğaziçi University and an MBA from Koç University.

Mustafa Akgün· Managing Director

Co-founder of Pragma with 28 years of investment banking experience in M&A advisory, private placements and privatizations across healthcare, pharmaceuticals, insurance, food and construction materials. Previously at Global Securities.

Ömer Bilhan· Managing Director

Co-founder of Pragma (2002) with 28+ years in investment banking, focused on cross-border M&A across power, banking, packaging, steel and construction materials. Previously at Global Securities and Shell; holds an engineering degree and an MBA from Purdue.

Özlü Yalaza· Managing Director

Co-founder of Pragma with 28 years of investment banking experience in M&A, restructuring, privatization and capital markets across construction materials, logistics, energy, food and chemicals. Holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Saltuk Buğra Akbulut· Managing Director

Co-founder of Pragma with 25 years of investment banking experience across power, packaging, steel, chemicals, mining, consumer products and banking. Holds BS and MS degrees in Industrial Engineering from Boğaziçi University.

Ahmet Noyaner· Managing Director

Joined Pragma in 2015 with 20+ years of investment banking experience, including seven years in London at Dresdner Kleinwort and Citigroup focused on power and utilities across EMEA. Holds an MBA from Yale University.

Şükrü Barlass· Managing Director· San Francisco Bay Areain

Joined Pragma in 2007 with 28+ years of investment banking experience in privatizations, M&A and capital markets advisory across energy, natural resources, mining, food and financial institutions. Previously at Global Securities and Finansbank.

Sultan Pınar Kavukcuoğlu· Managing Director

Joined Pragma in 2006 with 15+ years of investment banking experience across food and beverage, retail, FMCG, logistics, healthcare and insurance. Holds an MBA from Instituto de Empresa in Spain.

Can Ertöz· Advisory Board Member· İzmir, Türkiyein

Entrepreneur with over two decades in manufacturing; former CEO and leading shareholder of submersible pump maker Vansan, which he exited to a PE fund and later a Japanese conglomerate. Supports Pragma's M&A and manufacturing investment efforts.

Sertaç Yeltekin· Advisory Board Member

Financial executive and VC partner with three decades of experience; founder of Zingforce Ventures and co-founder/GP of Purpose Venture Capital in Singapore. Supports Pragma's growth equity and buyout business development.

What they invest in

from 2 of 2 portfolio companies

AI & Machine Learning ×2Crypto & Web3 ×1Deep Tech ×1Enterprise Software ×1Healthtech ×1

HQs:United States×2

Investments · 2 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

OpenGradientopengradient.ai in 𝕏Apr 2026

OpenGradient operates a decentralized network for verifiable AI computing, letting users host models, run secure inference, and deploy AI agents onchain.

AI & Machine LearningCrypto & Web3Deep TechNew York City, US

Adam B(Founder)

Co-investorsPragma Ventures Thanefield Capital TPC Club (The presale club)TPC Ventures a16z crypto Black Dragon +7 more

Verifiableverifiable.com in 𝕏Apr 2026

Verifiable provides an AI-powered platform for healthcare credentialing and provider network management that combines autonomous agents with regulatory compliance.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechSan Francisco, US

Nick Macario(Founder)in Viv Rajkumar(Founder)in Elina Cadouri(Executive Officer)in

BoardJack Altman(Director)

Co-investors137 Ventures Cathexis Ventures Struck Capital Y Combinator a16z crypto Black Dragon +11 more

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

OpenGradient launches privacy-first generative AI platform

OpenGradient · prnewswire.com · Jun 4, 2026

OpenGradient Announces $9.5 Million in Total Funding to Build the Compute Layer for Verifiable AI

Verifiable · prnewswire.com · Apr 14, 2026

Frequently asked questions

What stage does Pragma invest at?: Pragma invests at the Growth, Late Stage stages.
What sectors does Pragma focus on?: Pragma focuses on Sector Agnostic.
Where is Pragma located?: Pragma is headquartered in Istanbul, TR.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

featuring the team

Özlü Yalaza - Pragma Kurucu Ortağı - Üst Düzey | 11.11.2021

BloombergHT · Özlü Yalaza

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