Identified for its bidding-based strategy to fares, inDrive is deepening its push past ride-hailing by rolling out promoting throughout its high 20 markets and increasing grocery supply to Pakistan, executing on a “super app” strategy outlined last year to construct new income streams and enhance engagement whereas sustaining development in price-sensitive markets.
The most recent transfer by the Mountain View, California–headquartered agency comes as ride-hailing platforms face intensifying competitors and tighter margins throughout rising markets, pushing corporations to look past transport for development. Promoting gives a high-margin income stream that scales with utilization, whereas grocery supply will increase how ceaselessly customers open the app. The mix may assist inDrive scale back reliance on trip commissions whereas reinforcing its core mobility enterprise.
InDrive has constructed its place on affordability, utilizing a peer-to-peer negotiation mannequin that lets riders and drivers agree on fares instantly fairly than counting on fastened pricing. It nonetheless operates in a crowded market alongside world gamers akin to Uber and native micro-commuting choices together with taxis and autorickshaws, prompting the corporate to look past rides alone. That backdrop formed inDrive’s “tremendous app” technique, geared toward including higher-frequency companies akin to grocery supply in frontier and rising markets.
Promoting on inDrive is being rolled out throughout markets together with Mexico, Colombia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Egypt, and Morocco. The rollout follows mid-2025 checks that delivered tons of of tens of millions of impressions and drew curiosity from world client manufacturers and banks, mentioned Andries Smit, inDrive’s chief development enterprise officer, in an interview.
The promoting enterprise will initially deal with placements inside the app, together with throughout the ready interval after a trip is booked and whereas passengers are en route, moments that generate excessive engagement and sustained consideration, Smit informed TechCrunch.
In-car and on-vehicle promoting are a part of the longer-term roadmap. Nevertheless, Smit mentioned inDrive plans to prioritise in-app codecs by 2026, citing operational complexity round on-car promoting in rising markets and stronger early returns from digital placements.
Pakistan, the following large marketplace for inDrive’s “tremendous app” play
The deal with in-app promoting dovetails with inDrive’s push into groceries, a higher-frequency use case the place the corporate expects to generate stronger engagement and promoting demand than from rides alone. InDrive is scaling grocery supply in Pakistan, its second market after Kazakhstan, by a partnership with native dark-store operator Krave Mart, which received an investment from inDrive in December 2024.
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Pakistan stands out, Smit mentioned, due to a mix of rising demand for fast commerce and inDrive’s personal scale out there. Grocery retail stays extremely fragmented and casual, whereas city customers are more and more turning to app-based supply as extra households juggle work and household tasks. Concurrently, inDrive has emerged as one of many nation’s main mobility platforms, giving it a big, engaged person base to cross-sell groceries with out the excessive buyer acquisition prices which have weighed on many quick-commerce startups.
Since launching in 2021, inDrive has steadily expanded its footprint in Pakistan, with trip volumes rising practically 40% year-over-year in 2025, whereas deliveries by its courier companies grew 67% within the first half of the 12 months, per firm knowledge shared with TechCrunch. The corporate views Pakistan as one in every of its fastest-growing markets globally, with significantly excessive utilization in main cities akin to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. General, inDrive operates ride-hailing companies in additional than 20 Pakistani cities and intercity companies throughout over 200 places.
InDrive’s grocery rollout in Pakistan will start in Karachi, the nation’s largest metropolis and one of many firm’s strongest markets, the place customers will have the ability to order day by day necessities by the app with supply instances of round 20 to half-hour. The service will then increase to different main cities, together with Lahore, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi, later this 12 months as inDrive builds out provide and logistics with Krave Mart. The platform plans to supply greater than 7,500 merchandise — spanning recent produce, meat and dairy, snacks and home goods — alongside free supply on orders above PKR 499 (about $2) with no service charges.
Along with its speedy development as a ride-hailing market, Pakistan has additionally emerged as a focus for inDrive’s capital deployment. Of the corporate’s $100 million multi-year investment program introduced in late 2023, Smit mentioned the biggest share to this point has been directed towards Pakistan, although he declined to reveal particular figures. He added that at the very least half of the general $100 million dedication has already been deployed.
“We’re seeing unbelievable potential in Pakistan,” mentioned Smit. “Ideally, we need to proceed and double down on [investments] as we see efficiency.”
InDrive’s rising deal with Pakistan comes regardless of broader investor warning towards the market. Enterprise capital and public buyers have largely stayed on the sidelines amid geopolitical and macroeconomic dangers, whilst exercise exhibits indicators of restoration. Fairness funding in Pakistan rose 63% YoY in 2025 to $36.6 million throughout 10 rounds, per a current report by Karachi-based startup analyst agency Knowledge Darbar — well below the $347 million and $331 million raised in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Nevertheless, the hole between investor warning and on-the-ground demand is exactly the place inDrive sees alternative. Having operated throughout dozens of rising markets, Smit mentioned the corporate is extra accustomed to volatility and fewer reliant on shifting capital-market sentiment, giving it confidence to speculate the place others hesitate. With a longtime native enterprise and a big energetic person base, he famous that inDrive can even assist companions scale with out heavy spending on buyer acquisition — a bonus that turns into particularly helpful when exterior funding is scarce.
InDrive’s push into promoting and commerce is underpinned by scale. The corporate operates in 1,065 cities throughout 48 international locations and has surpassed 360 million app downloads, making it the world’s second most-downloaded mobility app for the third consecutive 12 months, behind Uber, per firm knowledge.
Trying forward, inDrive expects promoting to grow to be a extra significant contributor over the medium time period, significantly as grocery and supply volumes develop and create extra alternatives for contextual promotions. Trip-hailing, which accounted for about 95% of inDrive’s income just some years in the past, now makes up nearer to 85%, even because the core enterprise continues to develop, reflecting how newer verticals are starting to scale.
Groceries, supply, promoting and, finally, monetary companies are anticipated to play a bigger function over the following three to 5 years as the corporate expands selectively throughout precedence markets, Smit mentioned.
