Recognized for its bidding-based strategy to fares, inDrive is deepening its push past ride-hailing by rolling out promoting throughout its prime 20 markets and increasing grocery supply to Pakistan, executing on a “super app” strategy outlined last year to construct new income streams and increase engagement whereas sustaining progress in price-sensitive markets.
The newest transfer by the Mountain View, California–headquartered agency comes as ride-hailing platforms face intensifying competitors and tighter margins throughout rising markets, pushing firms to look past transport for progress. Promoting affords a high-margin income stream that scales with utilization, whereas grocery supply will increase how incessantly customers open the app. The mix may assist inDrive cut back reliance on journey 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 straight moderately than counting on mounted pricing. It nonetheless operates in a crowded market alongside world gamers similar 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, aimed toward including higher-frequency companies similar 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 progress enterprise officer, in an interview.
The promoting enterprise will initially deal with placements inside the app, together with through the ready interval after a journey is booked and whereas passengers are en route, moments that generate excessive engagement and sustained consideration, Smit advised 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 via 2026, citing operational complexity round on-car promoting in rising markets and stronger early returns from digital placements.
Pakistan, the subsequent massive 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, via 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 available in the market. Grocery retail stays extremely fragmented and casual, whereas city shoppers are more and more turning to app-based supply as extra households juggle work and household obligations. 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 journey volumes rising almost 40% year-over-year in 2025, whereas deliveries via its courier companies grew 67% within the first half of the yr, per firm knowledge shared with TechCrunch. The corporate views Pakistan as considered one of its fastest-growing markets globally, with notably excessive utilization in main cities similar to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Total, 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 be capable to order every day necessities via the app with supply occasions of round 20 to half-hour. The service will then broaden to different main cities, together with Lahore, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi, later this yr as inDrive builds out provide and logistics with Krave Mart. The platform plans to supply greater than 7,500 merchandise — spanning contemporary 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 fast progress 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 most important share to date 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 traders 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 latest 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 may 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 yr, behind Uber, per firm knowledge.
Trying forward, inDrive expects promoting to grow to be a extra significant contributor over the medium time period, notably as grocery and supply volumes develop and create extra alternatives for contextual promotions. Journey-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 position over the subsequent three to 5 years as the corporate expands selectively throughout precedence markets, Smit mentioned.
