Global ride-hailing company inDrive is betting on 30-minute grocery delivery in Pakistan after acquiring quick-commerce startup Krave Mart, a move that highlights growing competition in the country’s rapid-delivery market and marks an early investor exit in the sector.

The all-stock deal, agreed last year, has received approval from the Competition Commission of Pakistan, allowing the companies to proceed with the transaction, according to people familiar with the matter. inDrive confirmed the acquisition but did not disclose the financial terms.

The acquisition underscores inDrive’s strategy to expand beyond ride-hailing into commerce services such as groceries and logistics as part of its broader super-app ambitions across emerging markets.

Founded in 2021, Krave Mart operates grocery delivery services in major Pakistani cities including Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore. The startup promises deliveries in about 30 minutes through a network of dark stores, small fulfilment hubs located close to customers to speed up orders.

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The companies have already started rolling out grocery services under the inDrive. Groceries brand, with a recent launch in Lahore while both brands continue to operate in Karachi.

“We are pleased with the approval from the Competition Commission of Pakistan as we continue to work closely with Krave Mart to expand access to fast and reliable grocery delivery services across the country,” said Andries Smit in an email statement.

The deal also represents the first exit for venture firm Jedar Capital from its investment in Krave Mart. Jedar Capital said it invested in the startup at the pre-seed stage and later doubled down during its seed round, before inDrive appeared on the company’s cap table.

At the time of the early investment, there were few comparable exits in Pakistan’s quick-commerce sector and limited consensus among investors that the market was ready, the firm said.

Krave Mart’s founders built the company by focusing on the fragmented grocery retail system in Pakistan, starting from Karachi and developing logistics infrastructure to support fast deliveries, according to the investor.

The startup was founded by entrepreneurs including Kassim Shroff, Haziq Ahmed, Mohammad Ahsan Kidwai and Hammad Bawany.

The acquisition builds on an earlier partnership between the companies. inDrive expanded grocery delivery to Pakistan in January after launching the service in Kazakhstan in September 2025. It had also invested in Krave Mart in December 2024 through its venture and mergers-and-acquisitions unit.

That investment arm, launched in November 2023, plans to deploy up to $100 million over the next few years to support acquisitions and investments linked to the company’s super-app strategy.

However, expanding 30-minute grocery delivery in Pakistan may not be easy. The market is led by Foodpanda, which has operated in the country for more than a decade and is backed by German delivery group Delivery Hero. Analysts say quick-commerce businesses often require heavy spending on logistics networks and fulfilment centres before they become profitable.

Still, inDrive enters the sector with significant global reach. According to data from Sensor Tower, the company has been the world’s second-most downloaded ride-hailing app since 2022 and ranks as the fourth-most downloaded travel app globally, behind Google Maps, Uber and Waze.

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The app has recorded more than 400 million downloads worldwide and is the most downloaded ride-hailing service in several countries, including Peru, Panama, Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan.

inDrive operates in more than 1,000 cities across 48 markets, giving it a wide platform as it expands into new services such as grocery delivery, logistics and digital commerce.

For investors, the Krave Mart deal signals that global technology firms are beginning to acquire startups that build logistics infrastructure in complex emerging markets.

Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.

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