Tech-enabled fulfilment company, Istanbul-based OPLOG, has recently announced a pre-series A funding round of €11m (£9.7m), that will be used to fuel the company’s expansion plans, as well as drive product research and development, including in its robotics division (TARQAN).

In Q1 2023, OPLOG will become the only company in Europe other than Amazon to operate using in-house robotics technology within its fulfilment centres.

The round was led by Esas Private Equity, a private equity firm in Turkey, that has made numerous high-profile technology investments, such as in fellow Turkish start-up star, on-demand grocery delivery service, Getir, AI marketing platform, Insider, mobile game developer, Libra, and producer of lab-grown diamonds, Appsilon

Commenting on the round, OPLOG Founder and Chief Executive Halit Develioglu said: “OPLOG was founded nine years ago and bootstrapped until today to drive e-commerce forward by enabling global businesses, and brands, to offer seamless post-purchase experiences to their customers.”

By the end of the year, OPLOG will open a new fulfilment warehouse in the UK which will employ over 100 people within its first 18 months of being operational. The warehouse will take advantage of the company’s state-of-the-art proprietary robotics technology. Through launching in the UK (its first warehouse outside Turkey) OPLOG will form a bridge between the countries; all the more pertinent given Turkey’s role in global supply chains.

OPLOG’s robotics technology is proprietary, and each warehouse will utilise up to 50 robots. OPLOG stocks a merchant’s products in their smart warehouses and prepares orders on their behalf – managing delivery and providing end-to-end fulfilment services enhanced with technology. Using a mix of software and robotics, OPLOG is already a Turkish tech-enabled logistics company, and the funding round will help the expansion of pan-European operations. In Turkey, OPLOG works with multinationals such as SONY, Rossmann, and Tupperware.

OPLOG has topped the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Turkey (having experienced 4564% growth) and graduated from the Microsoft for Startups’ GrowthX Accelerator. OPLOG has experienced 91% YoY growth in units fulfilled, in contrast to the wider e-commerce slowdown post-pandemic.

On their investment in OPLOG, Esas Private Equity, said: “Esas is only too happy to support OPLOG – a fine example of the Turkish tech scene going from strength to strength. Halit’s vision for the future of e-commerce and OPLOG’s dedication in bringing robotics to market make the company a compelling investment.”