As the entrepreneurship ecosystem matures in Türkiye, what investors are looking for in startups has also become clear: not just "good product" but a business model that can grow sustainably, has pricing power, and can survive even in crises. One of the strongest answers to this is building vertical SaaS platforms in regulated sectors.

Vertical SaaS, unlike general-purpose software, is a product approach that solves a specific sector's work end-to-end, placing sector-specific regulations, processes, reporting, and work discipline at the center of the software. When we say regulated sectors, we're talking about areas such as occupational health and safety, environmental compliance, quality, periodic control, training processes, auditing, and similar areas. In markets like Türkiye, where regulations are both strong and "actually" determinative in the field, this approach is not just a product strategy but an investment thesis in itself.

From an investor's perspective, regulation has two faces. The first face is that it makes doing business difficult. Obligations, audits, document requirements, report formats, signature arrangements, and constantly changing applications... These appear as "chaos" for most entrepreneurs.

However, the second face, the face investors love, is this: regulation is also a mechanism that keeps the market constantly alive and makes demand mandatory. Whether the business grows or shrinks, whether the economy is good or bad, processes mandated by regulations continue. Institutions do this work not because they "want to" but because they're "obligated to."

This obligation creates the most valuable thing for the SaaS model: continuity. In Türkiye, as investors became more cautious especially after 2023, the search for continuity and predictable revenue increased even more. At this point, regulated vertical SaaS becomes "must have" products, not "nice to have."

Another reality of the Türkiye market is that regulation doesn't stay on paper and produces actual implementation. That is, regulation is not just text but a force that directly produces business plans in the field.

Specifically for occupational health and safety, the equivalent of this is very clear: training plans are prepared, training is assigned to employees, exams are conducted, participation certificates are produced, minutes are arranged, signatures are collected, risk assessments are revised, audits are conducted, non-conformities are closed.

In Türkiye, most of these processes are still "run as if" over Excel and WhatsApp. However, as scale grows, a point is reached where these methods become unsustainable. This moment is the strongest entry point for vertical SaaS. Because vertical SaaS doesn't just digitize processes; it solves the institution's need to "produce evidence." In countries with an audit culture, the real need is this: not doing the work, but proving it was done.

When we think about domestic investor behavior, there's a very critical dynamic here: Investors in Türkiye usually ask "is the market very big?" but after a while the question "is there an entry point to the market?" becomes more important.

The market size of regulated sectors is often misleading because segments are fragmented, customer types are different, and purchasing motivation varies. But for exactly this reason, vertical SaaS is advantageous: once the product is designed in compliance with regulations, the customer buys based on "outputs they have to produce."

This can't be explained only by efficiency like HR software; this isn't sold only by cost reduction like finance software. This is a system that protects the institution from risk, protects from penalties, prevents reputation loss, and makes management-level reporting possible. In Türkiye, especially for medium and large industrial companies, such products begin to be seen not as "operational cost" but as "corporate insurance." This perception shift creates pricing power.

From a foreign investor perspective, a different point comes into play: regulated vertical SaaS are generally "defensible" business models. That is, they're difficult to imitate. Because inside there's not just software, but domain knowledge, field experience, and regulatory reflexes accumulated over years.

Foreign funds pay particular attention to two things when investing in Türkiye: first, a business model that can adapt to the market, and second, a business model that can expand to a specific region. In regulated vertical SaaS, these two criteria become simultaneously possible.

Because regulation is strict in Türkiye and institutions try to run processes "fully." Once this difficulty is overcome, the resulting product can be carried to the MENA region or specific niches in Europe. Regulation is different but the logic is the same: process standardization, documentation, audit trail, training management, action tracking. That is, the product's backbone is portable, adaptation strategy can be made.

At this point, the value of a structure like EGEROBOT® in the investment thesis becomes even clearer. Because the space EGEROBOT® is in is not just software sales; it's an opportunity to build an ecosystem that touches the field in industrial reality, sitting at the center of corporate risk and compliance management.

Many startups in Türkiye launch "horizontal products" and try to sell everywhere. The result is often this: the product resembles something but becomes indispensable for no one. The advantage of vertical SaaS is the opposite: you become indispensable to a specific customer. When you're indispensable, churn drops, upsell becomes easier, reference power increases.

There's a reality investors in Türkiye know very closely: enterprise software with a strong reference chain creates cash. SaaS that creates cash reduces investment risk.

Also, there's another strategic benefit of productization in regulated sectors: modular growth. An institution usually enters with a single module, then their needs expand.

You enter with the training module, they want the audit module; you enter with audit, they want action management; you enter with non-conformity, they want reporting and KPIs; health processes are a separate topic, periodic control is a separate topic. These modules feed each other.

Building a vertical SaaS platform means not just developing software; it means building a digital operating system that owns the institution's compliance and risk operations. This also reduces "single product risk" for investors. The investor knows they're investing not in a single module but in a platform.

Some investors in Türkiye burn with the dream of fast growth; some now seek more "manageable growth." The regulated vertical SaaS strategy particularly affects the second group.

Because growth comes from customers who have field needs, have budget, have audit pressure. Product sales are fed not by "trend" but by "obligation." This means sustainability.

Exactly for this reason, when building an investment thesis, the regulated vertical SaaS approach gives investors a strong story: this product can be sold even during crisis periods; because institutions cannot postpone compliance.

Of course, this thesis alone is not sufficient. The real question for investors is: can this team execute this?

EGEROBOT®'s advantage emerges here: a structure that both knows the sector and has productization acumen is very rarely found in Türkiye. Because a team either knows the field but can't build the product, or builds the product but doesn't align with field reality. The winner of regulated vertical SaaS is those who know both at the same time.

And right here, the right investor partnership creates the multiplier effect of the game. Investment is not just capital; it's network, mentorship, corporate access, right hiring strategies, sales organization design, and critical roadmaps for international expansion.

In Türkiye, the era of "I gave money, let it grow" is over; now there's the era of "I added power alongside, let it grow." At this point, the investor EGEROBOT® is looking for is not just a fund; it's a strategic partnership approach that will grow together.

Building a vertical SaaS platform in regulated sectors is a real investment opportunity in Türkiye. Because:

EGEROBOT® is building this thesis not only theoretically but based on real needs touching the field. We say today that our door is open to investors to grow this platform and take it to the next level.

We're ready to meet investors who want to build this category leadership together with EGEROBOT®, to discuss strategy, and to grow together.