inDrive, the global mobility platform known for its unique bidding-based approach to fares, is accelerating its push beyond ride-hailing. The company is rolling out in-app advertising across its top 20 markets, including key MENA hubs, and is expanding its grocery delivery service into Pakistan as part of a broader “super app” strategy aimed at creating new high-margin revenue streams.
A Super App Strategy To Combat Competition
The move to diversify comes as ride-hailing platforms across emerging markets face intense competition and shrinking margins. By integrating new services, inDrive aims to build a multi-faceted platform that boosts user engagement and reduces its reliance on ride commissions. While advertising offers a high-margin revenue source that can scale with its large user base, grocery delivery is a high-frequency service designed to increase how often users open the app, reinforcing the core mobility business.
This strategic shift is a direct response to a crowded market where inDrive competes not only with global giants like Uber but also with local transport options. The “super app” model, which adds services like grocery delivery and courier services, is central to sustaining growth in price-sensitive emerging economies.
MENA In Focus For New Advertising Rollout
For its MENA audience of founders and investors, inDrive’s new advertising vertical is particularly relevant. The company is launching its in-app advertising business in several key markets, including Egypt and Morocco. This rollout follows successful tests in mid-2025 that delivered hundreds of millions of impressions and attracted major consumer brands and banks.
Andries Smit, inDrive’s Chief Growth Business Officer, stated that the initial focus will be on prime ad placements within the app. These ads will appear during the waiting period after a ride is booked and while passengers are en route—moments identified as having high user engagement and sustained attention. While in-car and on-vehicle advertising are part of the long-term vision, the company will prioritise in-app formats through 2026 due to their stronger early returns and lower operational complexity in emerging markets.
Pakistan Becomes A Key Market For Expansion
In a parallel move, inDrive is scaling its grocery delivery operations in Pakistan, its second market for this service after Kazakhstan. The expansion is being executed through a partnership with local dark-store operator Krave Mart, in which inDrive invested in late 2024.
According to Smit, Pakistan presents a significant opportunity due to rising demand for quick commerce and inDrive’s established scale in the country. With a large and engaged user base, inDrive can cross-sell groceries without incurring the high customer acquisition costs that have challenged many quick-commerce startups. Pakistan has also received the largest share of inDrive’s $100 million multi-year investment program announced in late 2023.
About inDrive
inDrive is a global mobility and urban services platform headquartered in Mountain View, California. Operating in over 1,065 cities across 48 countries, its core feature is a peer-to-peer pricing model where passengers and drivers negotiate fares directly. The company has surpassed 360 million app downloads, making it the second most-downloaded mobility app worldwide for three consecutive years. Its services extend beyond ride-hailing to include intercity transport, freight delivery, task assistance, and courier services.
Source: TechCrunch
