KOSGEB AI Loan offers up to 5 million TL interest free, which SMEs are eligible to apply?
The KOSGEB AI Loan gives SMEs holding a Teknogirişim Badge, Türkiye’s tech-venture certificate, between TL 500,000 and TL 5,000,000 with no interest and no commission, over 24 months with the first 12 months payment free (KOSGEB programme page and AI Loan Directive Rev.01, 28 September 2026). KOSGEB is Türkiye’s Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization. The money never lands in your bank account as cash; it goes into a GO Dijital Wallet as a blocked balance and can only be spent on AI services from listed providers.
Here is what that means for you: your credit limit equals the bank guarantee letter you can bring. A TL 5 million loan needs a TL 5 million letter of guarantee from your bank. No interest, but collateral, a spending list and an invoice calendar: weigh those three.
How much does the KOSGEB AI Loan provide and how is it repaid?
Each business can borrow TL 500,000 to TL 5,000,000, in Turkish lira, with no interest or commission per the programme page. The term is 24 months, the first 12 payment free. Repayment starts on the first business day after the grace period ends and closes in 4 equal instalments, one every four months.
Which businesses can apply for the KOSGEB AI Loan?
A business can apply when it meets four conditions at the same time. It must be an SME under the Turkish Commercial Code, sit in the KOSGEB database with a current business declaration, hold a valid Teknogirişim Badge on the application date, and have a GO Dijital Wallet account. The system checks eligibility automatically.
Where does the AI Loan differ from a bank loan and from your own funds?
Three points separate them: interest, freedom of spending and collateral. The AI Loan is interest free but not cash; it only goes to listed expenses and providers. A bank loan spends freely at a bank-set cost. Own funds are free to use but eat into working capital.
| Criterion | AI Loan | General bank loan | Own funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interest and commission | None | Depends on the bank | None, but opportunity cost |
| Form of money | Blocked balance in wallet | Cash to account | Cash in the till |
| Spending scope | Listed expenses and providers | Free | Free |
| Collateral | Bank guarantee letter required | Depends on bank terms | Not needed |
| Best fit for | Badge holder buying a listed service | Business spending outside the list | Small firm testing a quick pilot |
Which businesses does the KOSGEB AI Loan affect and how?
In autumn 2026 in Türkiye, the AI Loan matters most to technology and innovation focused SMEs that already hold the badge. These firms can fund AI services for their processes without paying a financing cost. A traditional manufacturer or retailer without the badge cannot benefit directly. The indirect effect lands on the service providers that make it onto the list.
What does the AI Loan mean for your website, data and advertising?
The spending has to turn into measurable work, since the loan exists to bring AI into business processes and grow digital capacity. Whether site search, customer service, data analysis or ad management has a match on the list is something to confirm in the expense table among the attached files.
What should an owner considering the KOSGEB AI Loan do this week?
Four tasks belong on this week’s list. Check your badge and KOSGEB registration, ask your bank about the guarantee letter limit and its fee, download the expense table and provider list and match them to your need, and write a 12 month spending plan.
Quick Summary
- The loan runs from TL 500,000 to TL 5,000,000 with no interest and no commission (KOSGEB, Directive Rev.01).
- The term is 24 months with a 12 month grace period, then 4 equal instalments every four months (KOSGEB).
- Applicants need a Teknogirişim Badge, an up to date KOSGEB record and a GO Dijital Wallet account.
- The limit equals the bank letter of guarantee the business brings.
- The balance is blocked and can only go to listed expenses and providers within 12 months.
Short Glossary
- Letter of guarantee
- A letter of guarantee is the bank document used to promise payment of a set amount if the borrower fails to pay.
- Blocked balance
- A blocked balance is the amount used to describe money visible in an account but released only under set conditions.
- Acceleration of debt
- Acceleration of debt is the legal term used to describe the whole remaining debt becoming payable at once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Step
To put collateral, the service list and your 12 month spending plan on the table together, fill in the consult your expert form.
Support amounts and conditions can change; check the current terms on the institution’s official page before applying. This article is not financial or legal advice.
Sources: KOSGEB, AI Loan programme page (accessed 13 October 2026) · KOSGEB, AI Loan Directive Rev.01 (28 September 2026)
Updated: October 2026
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Under the directive, your limit equals the amount of the bank letter of guarantee you submit, with a floor of TL 500,000. The letter is addressed to GO Dijital Teknoloji Hizmetleri and carries the wording “GO Dijital Yapay Zeka Kredisi”. It must be open ended or run until 6 months after the final repayment, or failing that, at least 1 year.
Within 30 days after the due date at the latest, you receive a written notice. If you do not pay within 7 days of that notice, the entire debt becomes due at once and the guarantee letter is cashed.
Any blocked amount you do not spend within 12 months is cancelled and returned to GO Dijital. If you submit no invoice at all in that period, the whole block lapses. The loan can be redefined up to 4 times within 12 months of the first blocked transfer.
No. The badge is the entry ticket, and Türkiye’s Ministry of Industry and Technology issues it to technology and innovation focused ventures. The same badge also removes the age limit in the Business Development Support of the KOSGEB Entrepreneur Support Programme.
The programme page says applications are made electronically via www.kosgeb.gov.tr and/or e-Devlet, Türkiye’s e-government portal. For the current version, check the KOSGEB AI Loan programme page directly.
Neither the page nor the directive names an intermediary bank. A bank only issues the guarantee letter. The wallet account is held by an electronic money institution licensed by BDDK, Türkiye’s banking regulator, and the official text does not name that institution.
For a badge holder whose need matches a listed service, the AI Loan comes out ahead because the financing cost is zero. If the need is not on the list, the money sits idle and is cancelled after 12 months.
The loan itself is interest free, yet the bank’s fee for the letter may fall on you, and the official sources give no figure for it. The letter also ties up part of your credit line.
It gains the chance to pull an AI project forward on the product roadmap without an interest bill. The 12 payment free months give the service time to go live and start earning.
Because the limit opens only as far as the guarantee, a business with a narrow letter of guarantee line at its bank cannot reach the higher amounts. On paper it says TL 5 million; at the table you may end up with TL 500,000.
The loan can only buy services from firms on the Service Providers List. Listed providers gain demand; others cannot reach this budget. The list itself sits in the files attached to the directive, so read that file before you apply.
Start with the easiest process to measure. An area with ready metrics, such as conversion rate, average basket value or cost per lead, makes results visible inside the 12 month spending window. If a product is just gathering dust on the shelf, read the data first to see whether the problem is traffic or the page.
An AI service works only as well as the data it is fed. On a site with missing analytics tags and messy product data, you pay the service fee and get weak output.
Only invoices issued after your application is approved are assessed, and the eligible amount, excluding VAT, is released from the block. Splitting project milestones around that calendar keeps the balance from being cancelled at the 12 month mark.
Ask two questions: what amount of letter of guarantee can the bank issue, and what does it cost. That sets your real limit.
First write down the bottleneck in your business, then look for its match on the list. The same decision logic works for trade fair announcements; our articles on the Tunisia SAPRI2026 fair and Turkchem Azerbaijan 2027 apply the same criteria to exhibiting abroad.
Choosing which AI service fits your business and rolling it out is work we take on through our AI consultancy. For other current programmes, the grants and incentives news archive collects the latest announcements.
No. According to the programme page, only expenses in the Service Expenses Table and services bought from firms on the Service Providers List count as eligible.
Neither the KOSGEB page nor the directive states an application start or end date. Check the current status on the institution’s official page.
No. Under the directive, only invoices issued after the application is approved are assessed, and the eligible amount is released from the block excluding VAT.