Kant Labs lands $250K pre-seed from Anka Ventures at Istanbul hackathon
What's the deal? Kant LabsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a mobile app startup, has raised $250,000 in pre-seed funding led by Anka VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The round was announced on stage at the App Growth Championship 2026 final in Istanbul.
Why now? The investment capped a competition run in partnership with RevenueCat and Neon Apps. More than 200 teams applied, 20 competed in the hackathon stage, and Kant Labs reached the final six with a subscription-based mobile app it began building during a 48-hour hackathon.
What's the endgame? Neon Apps founder Tyler Blackford framed the deal as proof of the model. "An idea that started at a hackathon turning into a company that raised $250,000 in a short time is exactly why we do this," he said, adding: "This is just the beginning."
Who else won? AB Ship Lab took the Grand Champion title with SewBuddy, an app that reached $10,000 in monthly revenue and 300 paying users after a pivot. Anka Ventures also awarded $10,000 each to Club Bizarre and Bronix under a Market Validation prize.
The signal: The event — organised with Scate AI, Fal AI, PlusMinusOne, and VLMedia — points to Turkey's growing pull as a testing ground for early-stage mobile app founders, where competition stages double as deal-making venues.
Read more: Swipeline
Image credit: Skakerman (Archive)
