BuldumBuldum.com

What did it do?

BuldumBuldum.com was a Turkish e-commerce site founded by Güçlü Gökozan, selling personalised products and gifts. Alongside the website it also had physical shops. It raised four rounds of investment from some of Turkey's best-known angel investors and aimed to expand abroad.

Why did it shut down?

According to founder Güçlü Gökozan, the company had been in financial difficulty for some time; as Bloomberg HT reported, the rise in exchange rates in 2018 made things worse still. According to an egirişim report, on top of the financial problems, some people becoming involved in the process in a different way made matters even harder. The aim of the last investment round was to speed up international expansion, but resources ran out before that goal was reached. In a statement on Twitter, Gökozan said they had reached the point where they were struggling in vain, and on 28 September 2018 he shut down all operations.

The story

BuldumBuldum.com (roughly "I found it, I found it" in Turkish) took its name from exactly what it did: interesting, personalised products that were not easy to find elsewhere. Founded by Güçlü Gökozan around 2006, the site became a regular stop for gift hunters. Over time it spilled beyond the internet and opened physical shops.

The company drew the interest of well-known names in the Turkish start-up ecosystem. Hasan Aslanoba, Nevzat Aydın, Melih Ödemiş, Bedii Can Yücaoğlu and Birol Yücel were among its shareholders. As Bloomberg HT reported, BuldumBuldum raised more than USD 6 million over four rounds; the 2015 round was done at a valuation of 60 million TL. According to Webrazzi, a further investment round was completed in March 2017, and it was expected to speed up international expansion.

In the months before the closure, however, it had long been the talk of the ecosystem that the company was going through a difficult period. In 2018 the rapid fall of the Turkish lira deepened its existing financial problems. On 28 September 2018 Gökozan announced on Twitter that he was shutting down BuldumBuldum.com and all its operations with effect from that day. In his statement he described the point he had reached: “I've come to feel that, with all these difficulties, we were struggling for nothing.”

Gökozan thanked the customers who had made them happy with their orders over 12 years, as well as investors and suppliers. He said all customers whose orders had not arrived or who were awaiting refunds would get their money back. And so the 12-year-old brand passed into history only a year and a half after a new investment round.

BuldumBuldum's closure became one of the examples showing how the currency shock of 2018 hit not only large companies but also mid-sized e-commerce start-ups. In the same period other e-commerce sites, such as 1V1Y, also halted operations.

Lessons for founders

• If your costs depend on exchange rates, currency risk can be existential; set your pricing and stock policy accordingly.
• A new investment round is not a solution; it buys time, so use that time to fix your unit economics.
• If you decide to close, prioritise customer refunds; your reputation carries over to your next venture.

Sources

1. BuldumBuldum.com is closing (Webrazzi, 2018-09-28)
2. Buldumbuldum.com, in business for 12 years, is closing (Bloomberg HT, 2018-10-01)
3. BuldumBuldum, a start-up with a 12-year journey behind it, is closing (egirişim, 2018-09-29)
4. Buldumbuldum.com, in business for 12 years, is closing (Habertürk, 2018-10-01)

This section is compiled from public sources (Wikidata, news archives and company announcements). Figures are given as they appear in those sources; unknown fields are left blank. If you spot a mistake in an entry, you can send us a correction.

Is something in this entry wrong? Request a correction → Method