inDrive turns to advertising and groceries to diversify its revenue

Known for its auction-based pricing approach, inDrive is ramping up its presence beyond ride-sharing by rolling out advertising in its top 20 markets and expanding grocery delivery in Pakistan, running on a “Super App” Strategy Outlined Last Year to create new revenue streams and drive engagement while maintaining growth in price-sensitive markets.

The latest move by the Mountain View, Calif.-based company comes as ride-hailing platforms face increased competition and tighter margins in emerging markets, pushing companies to look beyond transportation for growth. Advertising offers a high-margin revenue stream that scales with usage, while grocery delivery increases the frequency with which users open the app. The combination could help inDrive reduce its reliance on travel commissions while strengthening its core mobility business.

InDrive has built its position on affordability, using a peer-to-peer negotiation model that allows riders and drivers to directly agree on fares rather than relying on fixed prices. Still, it operates in a crowded market alongside global players such as Uber and local micro-working options including taxis and rickshaws, prompting the company to look beyond just commuting. This context has shaped inDrive’s “super app” strategy, aiming to add higher-frequency services such as grocery delivery in border and emerging markets.

Advertising on inDrive is rolling out in markets including Mexico, Colombia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Morocco. The rollout follows testing in mid-2025 that generated hundreds of millions of impressions and sparked interest from consumer brands and global banks, Andries Smit, inDrive’s chief growth officer, said in an interview.

Advertising activity will initially focus on in-app placements, including during the waiting period after booking a ride and while passengers are en route, times that generate high engagement and sustained attention, Smit told TechCrunch.

Advertising in cars and vehicles is part of the long-term roadmap. However, Smit said inDrive plans to prioritize in-app formats through 2026, citing operational complexity around in-vehicle advertising in emerging markets and stronger early returns from digital placements.

Pakistan, next big market for inDrive’s “super app”

The focus on in-app advertising aligns with inDrive’s rise in groceries, a more common use case where the company hopes to generate stronger engagement and ad demand than from rides alone. InDrive is expanding food delivery to Pakistan, its second-largest market after Kazakhstan, through a partnership with local sweatshop operator Krave Mart, which received an investment inDrive in December 2024.

Pakistan stands out, Smit said, because of the combination of growing demand for fast commerce and inDrive’s size in the market. Grocery retailing remains highly fragmented and informal, while urban consumers are increasingly turning to app-based delivery as more households juggle work and caring responsibilities. Simultaneously, inDrive has become one of the country’s leading mobility platforms, giving it a broad and engaged user base to cross-sell groceries without the high customer acquisition costs that have burdened many fast-commerce startups.

Since its launch in 2021, inDrive has steadily expanded its presence in Pakistan, with trip volumes increasing by almost 40% year-on-year in 2025, while deliveries through its courier services increased by 67% in the first half of the year, according to company data shared with TechCrunch. The company considers Pakistan one of the fastest growing markets in the world, with particularly high usage in major cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Overall, inDrive operates ride-sharing services in over 20 Pakistani cities and long distance services in over 200 locations.

InDrive’s Pakistan rollout will begin in Karachi, the country’s largest city and one of the company’s most important markets, where users will be able to order essential products through the app with delivery times of approximately 20 to 30 minutes. The service will then expand to other major cities, including Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, later this year, as inDrive develops sourcing and logistics with Krave Mart. The platform plans to offer more than 7,500 products – including fresh produce, meat and dairy, snacks and household items – as well as free delivery on orders above PKR 499 (around $2) with no service fees.

In addition to its rapid growth as a ride-sharing service market, Pakistan has also become a focal point for inDrive’s capital deployment. From the company $100 million multi-year investment program announced in late 2023, Smit said the largest share so far was headed to Pakistan, although he declined to disclose precise figures. He added that at least half of the overall $100 million commitment has already been deployed.

“We see incredible potential in Pakistan,” Smit said. “Ideally we want to continue and double [investments] as we see the performance.

InDrive’s growing focus on Pakistan comes despite investors becoming more cautious about the market. Venture capital and public investors have remained largely on the sidelines in the face of geopolitical and macroeconomic risks, even as activity shows signs of recovery. Equity funding in Pakistan grew 63% year-on-year in 2025 to $36.6 million over 10 rounds, according to a recent report by Karachi-based startup analyst firm Data Darbar — well below $347 million and $331 million raised in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

However, it is precisely in the gap between investor caution and demand on the ground that inDrive sees opportunity. Having operated in dozens of emerging markets, Smit said the company is more accustomed to volatility and less dependent on changing financial market sentiment, giving it the confidence to invest where others hesitate. With an established local business and a large active user base, he noted that inDrive can also help partners scale without spending heavily on customer acquisition – a benefit that becomes especially valuable when external funding is scarce.

InDrive’s push into advertising and commerce relies on scale. The company operates in 1,065 cities across 48 countries and has surpassed 360 million app downloads, making it the second most downloaded mobility app in the world for the third year in a row, behind Uber, according to company data.

Looking ahead, inDrive expects advertising to become a more significant contributor in the medium term, particularly as grocery and delivery volumes increase and create more opportunities for contextual promotions. Ride-sharing, which accounted for about 95% of inDrive’s revenue just a few years ago, now accounts for more than 85%, although the core business continues to grow, reflecting how new verticals are beginning to expand.

Grocery, delivery, advertising and, ultimately, financial services are expected to play a larger role over the next three to five years as the company selectively expands in priority markets, Smit said.