TÜBİTAK 1507 — SME R&D Start-up Support Program

TÜBİTAK 1507 — SME R&D Start-up Support Grant

Supports first-time Turkish technology firms through TÜBİTAK to build startup-ready innovation and commercialization skills.

TÜBİTAK 1507 is the SME R&D Start-up Support Grant, designed to bring Turkish small and medium enterprises into the TÜBİTAK funding ecosystem for the first time or among their earliest applications. The program offers a higher support intensity — meaning a greater proportion of eligible project costs is covered by the grant — than the standard TÜBİTAK 1501 program, making it the preferred entry point for smaller companies that have not yet established a track record with TÜBİTAK. Applications are submitted on a rolling basis through the e-TEYDEB electronic portal, which operates in Turkish and is the mandatory submission channel. Award amounts are denominated in TRY and published call-by-call on the Turkish-language TÜBİTAK portal.

Eligibility is restricted to for-profit companies that qualify as SMEs under the Turkish SME definition, and that are registered and operating in Türkiye. Universities, non-profits, research institutes, and large firms are not eligible. The program does not specify a technology sector restriction — it is open-topic within the bounds of qualifying industrial R&D activity. Companies transitioning from 1507 to the ongoing 1501 program do so once they have established a TÜBİTAK project history; 1507 functions as the explicit on-ramp for that journey.

No co-funding requirement is stated on English-language program pages — the specific support rate and any matching obligations are published per call on the Turkish portal. Evaluation follows TÜBİTAK's standard industrial R&D review criteria: technical quality, commercial potential, and team capability. Turkish SMEs with an identified R&D project and no prior TÜBİTAK funding history should confirm current 1507 call parameters on the e-TEYDEB portal before preparing documentation, as award sizes and application windows are call-specific.