InstaShop

InstaShop (Arabic: انستاشوب) is an E-commerce technology company founded in the United Arab Emirates in 2015[1] currently operating in 9 countries. On August 27, 2020, Delivery Hero announced that acquired 100% of InstaShop for $360 million.[2][3]

InstaShop logo English Arabic.png
Type of businessSubsidiary of Delivery Hero
FoundedJune 2015
Country of originUnited Arab Emirates
Area servedUAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Egypt, Greece, Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia
CEOJohn Tsioris
Industrye-commerce
ServicesOnline marketplace
Employees>10,000
WebsiteInstaShop.com
Native client(s) oniOS, Android

History

InstaShop was founded in 2015 in Dubai, by John Tsioris[4] and Ioanna Angelidaki[5] as an online grocery delivery service. Twelve months later, the company was nominated by Forbes Middle East as one of "The most promising UAE startups" of the year,[6] having partnered with more than 50 supermarkets and having more than 60,000 users,[7] reason why Souq.com (now Amazon) quickly decided to invest on the project.[7][8]

In the following years the company expanded outside the UAE, starting its operations in Qatar and Bahrain in 2017,[4] to then enter in Egypt and Lebanon in 2018.[9] Also in 2018, Forbes Middle East awarded InstaShop as one of the top 100 startups.[10]

In 2019 InstaShop has gone from being a Grocery Delivery App to delivering multiple types of products, reaching more than 500,000 users during the COVID-19 pandemic. [11][12]

On August 2020 InstaShop was acquired by the German holding Delivery Hero based on a valuation of USD 360 million.[13][14][15][16][17]

After the expansions in Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia occurred in 2021, the app - which is currently active in 9 countries - has also gradually expanded its offer (originally focused on grocery), adding other categories such as pharmacies, restaurants, fitness nutrition, electronics, perfumes, stationery, home & living, and cosmetics.

References

  1. "Generation Start-up: Instashop eyes global expansion for its grocery delivery app". The National. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  2. "Berlin's Delivery Hero acquires Dubai on demand delivery app". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  3. "Delivery Hero picks up InstaShop in $360M deal to expand in groceries in the Middle East". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-09-09.[dead link]
  4. 4.0 4.1 Vinita (2019-10-28). "Redefining Grocery Shopping: An Interview with John Tsioris, Founder & CEO of InstaShop". Gulf Insider. Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  5. East, Forbes Middle. "Ioanna Angelidaki, Co-Founder Of InstaShop, Is Riding The Wave Of An E-Commerce Boom". Forbes ME. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  6. "Forbes Most Promising UAE Startups In 2016". AM Marketing, Media, Advertising News in MENA. 2016-10-06. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Hariharan, Sindhu (2016-10-31). "UAE-Based Online Grocery Startup InstaShop Raises Funds From Souq.Com". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  8. Robert Anderson (2016-10-17). "Souq.com invests in grocery app InstaShop". Gulf Business. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  9. "Lebanese delivery apps eye growth in grocery e-commerce - Executive Magazine". Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  10. East, Forbes Middle. "Top 100 Startups in the Middle East 2018". Forbes ME. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  11. "How COVID-19 impacts consumer behavior, leading to a +53% growth of InstaShop". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  12. "Covid-19: Instashop sees business surge amid coronavirus pandemic". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  13. "Germany's Delivery Hero acquires grocery app InstaShop for $360m". capital.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  14. "Delivery Hero buys InstaShop to expand in Middle East, North Africa" (in en). Reuters. 2020-08-27. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-delivery-hero-m-a-idUSKBN25N0JI. Retrieved 2020-09-09. 
  15. Tucker, Charlotte (2020-08-27). "Delivery Hero acquires InstaShop - a leading online grocery marketplace in MENA". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  16. "Delivery Hero buys Dubai's InstaShop as pandemic revenues surge". Arab News. 2020-08-27. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  17. "InstaShop, a hyperlocal grocery app startup founded in 2015 by two college students, sold to Delivery Hero for a whopping $360 million". Tech News | Startups News. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2020-09-09.