The owners of Talabat.com just hit payday, big time.
Rocket Internet announced today their purchase of the popular site for KD 50 million, that’s 150 million or $170 million.
The Middle East online takeaway market has been attracting a lot of attention from the German investors who just last week purchased 24h.com from Dubai as part of their foodpanda group.
The incubator and investment company, who became publically listed just last year, has been on an online food delivery buying spree for the past year. Rocket Internet now has sites that cater to 39 different countries under their startup Global Online Takeaway.
“The acquisition of Talabat.com is another important step in our long-term global Food & Groceries strategy. We believe in the long-term growth potential of this space and are excited to take advantage of opportunities to build out our global leadership,” said Oliver Samwer, CEO of Rocket Internet.
Global Online Takeaway will be the company’s second global conglomerate startup. Last September the group bought the popular fashion website Namshi, as part of their Global Fashion Group. With the inclusion of brands from Latin America, Russia and South East Asia and Australia the group as a whole is now worth $3.5 billion.
No word on how all this is going to change your experience with food delivery at the moment. According to Rocket Internet, Talabat.com’s inclusion in the group will give all concepts the opportunity to share ideas and systems, and eventually improve their services.
Talabat.com has been in operation in the Middle East since 2004 and was started by two Kuwaiti college students studying in Egypt. It has more than 8 million orders to date, and receives 25,000 new page visits a day and has more than 400,000 users. The site was the winner of the World Summit Award in 2014 for best mobile application in the mobile business and commerce category.