Arke Telekom, a Turkish company that builds communication links for drones, has received a €1m (about $1.12m) investment from ACT Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that backs deep-tech companies. Arke announced the deal on 22 October 2026, and the Turkish tech sites Webrazzi and Egirişim reported it the same day.
ACT Venture Partners was the only investor named. Neither the company nor the reports gave the round a stage name, a valuation or a total for the company's earlier funding. It is listed here as a seed-stage round because of its size and because no earlier venture round was reported.
What Arke Telekom does
Arke Telekom's main product is ArkeLink, a system meant to keep unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in contact when an enemy uses electronic warfare to jam their signals or when satellite navigation is unavailable. It pairs software-defined radio with a mesh network that organises itself: when one link drops, the network looks for another route to carry the data, the company said.
In its announcement, Arke argued that drones are taking on a bigger military role and becoming smaller, cheaper and more common, and that whether a mission succeeds can depend on whether its links survive jamming. It said traditional systems were designed for large military platforms and do not suit smaller drones. Barış Karadeniz, co-founder and chief technology officer, said a strong radio link alone is not enough and that the network itself has to adapt when conditions change. The company said it wants to offer a compact system that can scale across different kinds of unmanned vehicles.
Defence is the main market, but Arke said ArkeLink could also be used in disaster response, search and rescue, public safety and the protection of critical infrastructure. Its website also lists satellite and network waveforms, simulation tools and automotive software among its products.
The company and its team
Arke Telekom is based at Hacettepe Teknokent, a technology park in Ankara. Webrazzi reported that the company was founded in 2014 by Saygun Önay, Barış Karadeniz and Tolga Numanoğlu. The company's announcement names Önay as co-founder and chief executive, Karadeniz as co-founder and CTO, and Numanoğlu as chief operating officer. It said the three have long experience in radio communications, waveform design and embedded software, and have worked on tactical communication systems for defence.
Arke was also selected for NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA). The company's website says it is one of 150 companies in DIANA's 2026 challenge programme cohort, under the advanced communication technologies challenge, and that it will spend six months developing ArkeLink with ODTÜ Teknokent and DIANA's network of mentors and test centres. Arke said the programme gives it access to test sites in NATO countries and to potential international partners.
The company did not disclose revenue, customers or headcount.
Who invested and why
ACT Venture Partners invests in deep-tech companies. Erhan Z. Kılıçözlü, its managing partner, said in the announcement that the team's depth of expertise in advanced communications and its ability to make the technology work in real conditions shaped the decision. He said that in defence technology a strong idea is not enough on its own, and that demand for reliable communications that can withstand electronic warfare is growing internationally.
Önay said the investment was an important step towards taking ArkeLink abroad, and described ACT as a strategic partner because of its deep-tech experience and international connections.
What the money is for
Arke said it will use the funding to bring ArkeLink to international markets and to expand its product family for different unmanned systems. It did not give a breakdown of spending or a timeline.
Company website: arketel.com