Identified 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 “tremendous app” technique outlined final 12 months 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 corporations to look past transport for progress. Promoting gives a high-margin income stream that scales with utilization, whereas grocery supply will increase how ceaselessly customers open the app. The mixture might assist inDrive cut 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 corresponding 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 providers corresponding 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 a whole lot of hundreds of thousands 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 concentrate on placements throughout 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 instructed 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 huge marketplace for inDrive’s “tremendous app” play
The concentrate on 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 acquired an funding from inDrive in December 2024.
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Pakistan stands out, Smit mentioned, due to a mixture of rising demand for fast commerce and inDrive’s personal scale out there. 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 consumer 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 via its courier providers grew 67% within the first half of the 12 months, per firm information shared with TechCrunch. The corporate views Pakistan as considered one of its fastest-growing markets globally, with significantly excessive utilization in main cities corresponding to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Total, inDrive operates ride-hailing providers in additional than 20 Pakistani cities and intercity providers throughout over 200 areas.
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 day by day necessities via the app with supply occasions 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 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 funding 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 not less than half of the general $100 million dedication has already been deployed.
“We’re seeing unimaginable potential in Pakistan,” mentioned Smit. “Ideally, we need to proceed and double down on [investments] as we see efficiency.”
InDrive’s rising concentrate on 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 reveals 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 — effectively beneath 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 lively consumer base, he famous that inDrive also can assist companions scale with out heavy spending on buyer acquisition — a bonus that turns into particularly invaluable 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 nations 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 information.
Trying forward, inDrive expects promoting to turn out 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. Experience-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, ultimately, monetary providers are anticipated to play a bigger position over the subsequent three to 5 years as the corporate expands selectively throughout precedence markets, Smit mentioned.
