inDrive Expands Into Advertising and Groceries to Scale

inDrive is aggressively pivoting toward a “super app” model, integrating advertising and grocery delivery into its global platform to diversify revenue streams. The Mountain View-based firm, known for its unique peer-to-peer fare negotiation, is shifting focus as the ride-hailing sector faces tightening margins and intense competition in emerging markets.

The company is rolling out in-app advertising across its top 20 markets, including Mexico, Colombia, Pakistan, Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Morocco. According to Andries Smit, the company’s chief growth business officer, this initiative follows successful trials in mid-2025 that generated hundreds of millions of impressions and captured the interest of major banks and global consumer brands.

Advertising placements will initially appear during the high-engagement windows immediately after a ride is booked and while the passenger is in transit. While the company has considered in-car and external vehicle advertising, Smit noted that in-app digital formats remain the priority through 2026 due to their stronger early returns and lower operational complexity.

Pakistan as a Strategic Hub

Central to this expansion is Pakistan, where inDrive is scaling its grocery delivery service through a partnership with Krave Mart, a local dark-store operator that received an investment from inDrive in December 2024. The grocery rollout will launch in Karachi, offering over 7,500 products ranging from fresh produce to household essentials.

The company reports that Pakistan has become one of its fastest-growing markets, with significant operational scale:

• Ride volumes in Pakistan climbed nearly 40% year-over-year in 2025.
• Courier delivery services saw 67% growth during the first half of 2025.
• The platform currently provides mobility services in over 20 Pakistani cities and intercity transport across 200+ locations.

For orders exceeding PKR 499 (approximately $2), the service will offer free delivery with no additional service fees. Future plans include expanding the grocery offering to Lahore, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi later this year.

Diversifying Beyond Mobility

The move to integrate grocery and advertising is a tactical response to the need for higher-frequency user interaction. While ride-hailing previously accounted for roughly 95% of inDrive’s total revenue, that figure has dropped to about 85% as new verticals gain traction. The firm, which operates in 1,065 cities across 48 countries, retains its status as the world’s second most-downloaded mobility app, trailing only Uber.

Despite broader investor caution in the Pakistani market—where equity funding remains well below the peaks seen in 2021 and 2022—inDrive continues to deploy capital aggressively. Smit confirmed that the largest share of the company’s $100 million multi-year investment program, announced in late 2023, has been directed toward Pakistan. At least half of that total commitment has already been utilized.

“We’re seeing incredible potential in Pakistan,” Smit said. “Ideally, we want to continue and double down on investments as we see performance.”

Looking ahead, the company plans to further refine its ecosystem by incorporating financial services into its super app strategy over the next three to five years, betting on its ability to cross-sell to an existing, large user base without the heavy customer acquisition costs typically associated with quick-commerce startups.