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Ver en españolThe leading food and grocery delivery app in the Gulf and wider Middle East, operating in eight countries from its Kuwait roots.
At a glance
talabat earns commissions from restaurants and shops, delivery and service fees from customers, advertising from merchants and subscription fees from talabat pro members. It sells restaurant food plus groceries and retail, including its own dark-store supermarket, talabat mart.
talabat listed on the Dubai Financial Market on 10 December 2024, raising about USD 2.0 billion in what it called the largest global tech IPO of 2024.
talabat / Dubai Financial MarketAs of September 2024, talabat reported more than 6 million active customers, more than 65,000 active vendors and more than 119,000 active riders across eight countries: UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Jordan and Iraq.
talabat / Dubai Financial MarketFor full-year 2025, talabat reported GMV of USD 9.5 billion (up 28% at constant currency) and revenue of USD 3.9 billion.
talabat corporateGroceries and retail made up 32% of talabat's Q4 2025 GMV, growing 45% year on year, while food grew 12%.
talabat corporatetalabat said it would invest more than USD 100 million in 2026 to expand talabat mart and improve talabat pro.
talabat corporateHow they won
What they did, why it worked, and how you can run the same move in one city on a small budget.
01
What they did
talabat started as a Kuwaiti ordering site, was bought by Rocket Internet in 2015 and moved into Delivery Hero the same year. Delivery Hero later folded Egypt's Otlob into the talabat brand in 2020, giving one name across the region.
Why it worked
Being first and becoming the default word for ordering food made talabat the place customers checked before anything else.
Copy it locally
Pick one clear, local brand name and use it everywhere: app, riders' bags, WhatsApp, Instagram. If smaller ordering pages or WhatsApp groups exist in your city, partner with them or bring their restaurants onto your app rather than competing with five weak brands.
02
What they did
talabat moved from pure ordering to running delivery itself starting in 2017, and by 2024 had more than 119,000 active riders. That let restaurants without drivers join and gave talabat control of delivery time.
Why it worked
Controlling the rider gives a consistent experience and opens the platform to every restaurant, not only those with their own drivers.
Copy it locally
Start with a small pool of riders covering two or three dense neighborhoods and a driver app with dispatch. Offer delivery as a service to restaurants that have no drivers, and let restaurants that do have drivers use their own.
03
What they did
In March 2021 talabat opened talabat mart in Cairo, with more than 20 delivery-only stores promising groceries in under 30 minutes, around the clock. Groceries and retail grew to about a third of its GMV by late 2025.
Why it worked
Groceries are bought more often than restaurant meals, so the same customers open the app more times per week.
Copy it locally
You do not need a dark store: list one or two neighborhood supermarkets, a pharmacy and a bakery on your app with a simple catalog. Add a short list of everyday items with fixed delivery times to drive repeat orders.
04
What they did
talabat pro gives members free delivery and member discounts, and was live in all eight markets after launches in Egypt and Iraq in 2025. In October 2025 it added a family plan in Bahrain that lets up to four people share one membership with spending limits for children.
Why it worked
Members who have prepaid for free delivery tend to keep ordering on the same app instead of shopping around.
Copy it locally
Launch a low monthly membership with free delivery above a minimum order and a few member-only deals from partner restaurants. Keep it simple, sell it in-app and on WhatsApp, and review the numbers monthly.
Where they are weak
Every giant has blind spots. These are the ones a focused local operator can turn into an advantage.
UAE restaurants have reported paying around 25% to 30% per order to large apps, with some citing up to 35%, which squeezes margins. A local platform with lower or flat fees gives restaurants a reason to push their own customers to it.
Source: Khaleej TimesQatar fined talabat QAR 1.14 million and suspended it temporarily in 2025 over misleading product information, and Kuwait in 2026 banned hidden fees and exclusivity clauses. Gulf regulators are pushing for fairer terms, which helps transparent local players.
Source: AGBIIn May 2022 talabat riders in Dubai stopped work asking for a higher per-order payment, citing rising fuel costs. A local operator that treats a smaller rider team well can offer steadier service and lower churn.
Source: AGBIBuild it with Ordering.co
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Ordering.co is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by talabat. Names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used here for commentary and education. Facts come from the public sources listed on this page, checked in October 2026.
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