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Delivery Hero: The Story of Berlin's Global Food Delivery Juggernaut
I. Introduction & Episode Roadmap
Picture Berlin in 2011: a city still finding its footing as Europe's startup capital, where ambitious founders gathered in co-working spaces dreaming of building the next great internet company. In a modest office, a Swedish entrepreneur named Niklas Ă–stberg and his co-founders were about to launch a venture that would reshape how billions of people order food. Delivery Hero Holding was founded in Berlin by Niklas Ă–stberg, Kolja Hebenstreit, Markus Fuhrmann and Lukasz Gadowski in May 2011, with the goal of turning Delivery Hero into a global online food ordering platform.
Fast forward to today, and Delivery Hero SE is a German multinational online food ordering and food delivery company based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 2011, the company operates in 60+ countries internationally in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin and South America, and the Middle East, and partners with 500,000+ restaurants.
How did a scrappy Berlin startup, founded during what German media would dub the "food delivery wars," become a global behemoth operating on four continents? The answer involves police raids, billion-dollar acquisitions, regulatory battles, and one of the most aggressive expansion strategies in European startup history.
The record-breaking Offering was the largest global technology IPO in 2024 to date—that was the talabat listing on Dubai Financial Market, spinning off Delivery Hero's crown jewel Middle Eastern operations. The Final Offer Price has been set at AED 1.60 per share, at the top end of the previously announced Offer Price Range, raising offer proceeds of c. AED 7.5 billion (c. US$ 2.0 billion).
The key themes of Delivery Hero's story are: - Acquisition-driven hypergrowth: The company has completed over 36 acquisitions across 21 countries - The Rocket Internet playbook: How the Samwer brothers' backing shaped the company's aggressive expansion - Emerging market dominance: Why the Middle East and North Africa became the crown jewel - The path from cash-burning to profitability: After years of losses, the company achieved positive free cash flow in 2024
This deep dive traces the full arc—from a controversial startup that faced police raids, through Germany's largest tech IPO in years, to a diversified global platform now navigating regulatory headwinds and competitive pressures.
II. The Founders & Berlin Startup Ecosystem Context
In the late 2000s, Berlin was undergoing a transformation. The city's low rents, creative energy, and growing pool of international talent made it the perfect laboratory for European internet entrepreneurship. At the epicenter of this movement was a Swedish engineer with a very specific obsession: online food ordering.
Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Östberg is the Co-Founder and CEO of Delivery Hero. He holds a Master of Industrial Engineering & Management from Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm & ETH Zurich. But Östberg wasn't fresh out of academia when he founded Delivery Hero—he was already a battle-tested operator in the food delivery space.
Before co-founding Delivery Hero in 2011, Niklas Ă–stberg had a background in corporate consulting and co-founding food ordering platforms. Following five years as a management consultant at Oliver Wyman, Niklas co-founded Pizza.nu (later OnlinePizza.se) where he served as a full-time chairman. After winning the Swedish market he was responsible for building up market leading companies in online food ordering in Poland, Finland and Austria.
This wasn't a founder stumbling into an industry—this was someone who had spent years understanding the economics of connecting hungry customers with restaurants. The insight was deceptively simple: online food ordering was a classic marketplace business with powerful network effects. Get enough restaurants on the platform, and customers follow. Get enough customers, and restaurants have no choice but to join. The winner in each market would likely take most of the spoils.
In late 2010, Niklas convinced Team Europe to develop the concept to the German market under the name of Lieferheld (Lieferheld.de) and got the license to use the technology and know-how from the original Swedish company. After a successful market entry into the competitive German market, Niklas Ă–stberg and his team decided to launch the business model internationally under the name of Delivery Hero in May 2011.
The Berlin startup scene in 2011 offered something crucial: infrastructure for rapid scaling. The Samwer brothers—Oliver, Marc, and Alexander—had built Rocket Internet into Europe's most formidable startup factory. Their playbook was simple but effective: identify proven business models, particularly from the United States, and execute faster and more aggressively than anyone else in emerging markets.
Corporate-backed incubator and venture capital Rocket Internet paid €496m ($568m) for a 30% stake in Germany-based online food ordering service Delivery Hero, which it revealed would form the basis of considerable increase in its interest in the subsector.
The early money came quickly. In November 2011, Delivery Hero received its first investment funding. In this financing round Team Europe, HV Capital, Tengelmann Ventures, Kite Ventures and ru-Net together invested €4 million. Just four months after founding, Östberg had capital to fuel expansion.
What separated Ă–stberg from many startup founders was his leadership philosophy. His leadership style emphasizes freedom and autonomy, fostering a culture of creativity and passion within the company. In an industry where execution speed was everything, this approach allowed local teams to move fast while benefiting from central resources.
"[We] had to grow faster than we could manage, running faster than you can run. And that means that you add cost, which means you have to finance. And if you don't get the financing, you know that it's over," Niklas tells us frankly.
"I had many moments where I felt 'this is never going to work'. And at the same time, you have to keep the 'shine' up for all your employees and everyone around you and everyone who's supportive, that it will all be fine and good."
By late 2011, the company was already expanding internationally. The stage was set for one of the most aggressive—and controversial—growth campaigns in European startup history.
III. The "Cyberwar" Era & Early Aggressive Expansion (2011-2013)
The early years of German online food delivery weren't just competitive—they were brutal. What unfolded between 2011 and 2013 would become known in German business circles as the "Cyberwar," a no-holds-barred battle for market dominance that would see police raids, criminal accusations, and tactics that pushed legal boundaries.
Under the leadership of Niklas Ă–stberg and Fabian Siegel, Delivery Hero first expanded to Australia and the United Kingdom in 2011. The speed was breathtaking. Within months of founding, the company was already planting flags across multiple continents.
In early 2012 the enterprise acquired Lieferheld in Germany and acquired a stake in Foodarena, Switzerland. Delivery Hero then raised €25 million in new funding to finance acquisitions in four European countries: Sweden, Finland, Austria and Poland.
But Germany remained the central battleground. Multiple well-funded players—Delivery Hero's Lieferheld, Lieferando, Pizza.de, and others—were fighting for the same restaurants and customers. And the tactics were unlike anything seen in traditional business competition.
In 2012 and 2013, the harsh competition between the various delivery service online portals led the German press to dub the events as cyberwar between the big web-portals. There were reports of frequent Denial-of-service attacks against each portal, accusations of data stealing as well as numerous lawsuits of the portals against each other.
Delivery Hero was one of the more aggressive actors, and in 2012, the Delivery Hero office in Berlin was raided by police and the prosecution pressed charges against the Delivery Hero management. Delivery Hero was prosecuted for perpetrating DoS attacks against its competitors and stealing data from the other web services.
The allegations were explosive. Lieferheld is accused of repeated internet attacks (DDoS-attacks) against its competitor Lieferando. These attacks may have led to several down times on the Lieferando website. Lieferheld's competitor said this caused a damage worth "at least 75,000 Euros".
Police visited the Berlin offices of Delivery Hero's German platform Lieferheld last week on suspicion of computer sabotage against competitor Lieferando, an allegation Lieferheld's Fabian Siegel hotly denies. As reports and statements surfacing this weekend reveal, police officials visited Lieferheld's Berlin headquarters last Wednesday following accusations of repeated denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Lieferando's website.
Lieferheld CEO Fabian Siegel rejected the accusation as "totally absurd". He suggested Lieferando may have seen a programme used by Lieferheld to automatically check if competitors' claims about affiliated restaurants are correct, something he claims is common industry practise.
What does this episode reveal about the early food delivery wars? The industry exhibited classic winner-take-all dynamics. Network effects meant that the leading player in each market would enjoy structural advantages that were nearly impossible to overcome. Customer acquisition costs would plummet for the leader while remaining elevated for everyone else. Restaurant partners would prioritize the platform with the most orders.
Understanding this dynamic explains the desperation that drove such aggressive tactics. Losing the market race meant likely extinction. Winning meant potentially building a monopoly-like position with attractive unit economics.
Despite the controversy, Delivery Hero emerged from this period not diminished but strengthened. In August 2012 Delivery Hero started expanding in both South Korea and China through YoGiYo and Aimifan and the Asian expansion continued in 2013 when Delivery Hero increased investment in TastyKhana following a successful cooperation period.
In August 2012 Delivery Hero received an additional €40 million funded primarily by Kite Ventures and Kreos Capital. Venture capital firm Target Global invested in Delivery Hero in 2013. A Series D financing round saw Delivery Hero receive $30 million from Phenomen Ventures.
Investors weren't deterred by the legal troubles. They saw what mattered: a company that was winning markets, building scale, and creating the foundation for a global platform. The cyberwar controversy would fade into history; the market positions being established would prove far more durable.
IV. The Acquisition Machine: Building a Global Empire (2014-2016)
If the early years were about survival and controversy, 2014 marked Delivery Hero's transformation into an acquisition machine. The strategy crystallized: rather than fighting expensive battles to build organically in each market, buy the leaders and consolidate.
2014 - Latin America & Consolidation
In 2014, Delivery Hero acquired a controlling stake in Latin American market leader PedidosYa and in August 2014 the group acquired German market leader and rival, pizza.de. The pizza.de deal was particularly significant—it represented a turning point in the German market wars. By acquiring a major competitor rather than battling them indefinitely, Delivery Hero demonstrated a new approach.
According to TNW Tech5 2014, Delivery Hero was one of Germany's top three fastest growing startups at that time.
The funding kept flowing. A further $85m followed in April 2014 and was used to strengthen Delivery Hero's presence in core markets. In September 2014, a further $350m of investment was secured from existing partners and Swedish fund Vostok Nafta. This was the largest investment in a European start up since 2009.
Then came the deal that cemented the Rocket Internet relationship. In December 2014 the company raised another €287 Million from Rocket Internet. The total investment size by Rocket Internet was €496 Million in primary and secondary for a 30% stake in Delivery Hero. Three months later Rocket Internet increased its stake in Delivery Hero to 39%.
2015 - The Year of Mega-Deals
2015 would prove to be transformative. The acquisition pace accelerated dramatically, with Delivery Hero executing deals that would define its geographic footprint for the next decade.
First came Talabat. According to Delivery Hero, who in March of this year took over Kuwait's Talabat.com (formerly acquired by their main backer Rocket Internet for a then regional record $170 million), they are now a global market leader in online food delivery. The Talabat deal marked Delivery Hero's entry into the Middle East—a region that would become its most profitable.
Then came the blockbuster. It's buying Turkey's Yemeksepeti for $589 million in a cash and shares deal that will also see investor General Atlantic becoming shareholders in Delivery Hero. Yemeksepeti — Turkish for "food cart" — is Delivery Hero's first move into Turkey.
Delivery Hero, the billion-dollar takeout food service based in Berlin, is making another big acquisition as it continues to scale up its business worldwide. The deal is groundbreaking in another respect: the company claims it is the largest-ever acquisition in the food-ordering sector.
Ă–stberg's enthusiasm was palpable. "We have looked at many businesses in our industry around the world but we have rarely seen KPIs as exceptional as those displayed by Yemeksepeti: customer cohorts and reorder rates are among the best in the world and far superior to those shown by our listed peers. It is an extraordinary company."
Yemeksepeti was launched 15 years ago and is today an extremely popular brand in Turkey, processing over 3 million orders each month across its markets. The profitable business is characterized by strong topline growth of c. 60% p.a., a loyal customer base and an innovative product.
The South Korean market also saw consolidation. In April 2015, Delivery Hero acquired South Korean delivery service Baedaltong, one of the chief competitors of its own YoGiYo service. One month later Delivery Hero bought the Turkish competitor Yemeksepeti for 530 million Euro, which was the largest acquisition in this business sector to date.
In October 2015 Delivery Hero also acquired Munich-based food delivery service Foodora from Rocket Internet.
2016 - Foodpanda & Pre-IPO Positioning
The year 2016 brought the deal that would truly cement Delivery Hero's global footprint. On 10 December 2016, Delivery Hero acquired Singapore-based Foodpanda, a company valued at an estimated $3 billion at that time.
Both Delivery Hero and Foodpanda are headquartered in Berlin and began life very much as rivals, but over the last couple of years — and given Rocket Internet's slightly peculiar stakes in both companies — have morphed into frenemies, of sorts. This has seen multiple local properties swap hands, perhaps in recognition that the takeout aggregator space is increasingly a winner-takes-all market, where competing hard can be costly in terms of customer acquisition and retention. Today's full purchase of Foodpanda by Delivery Hero brings that strategy to its ultimate conclusion.
Rocket Internet has shuffled the online takeout pack of cards once again. This time the publicly listed German "startup factory" and investor is selling Foodpanda to its much larger rival Delivery Hero, of which it also holds a significant stake — a move that should help fatten up Delivery Hero a little more for a long-rumored planned IPO of its own.
The strategic portfolio pruning also began. In December 2016, the company announced the sale of its UK business Hungryhouse to Just Eat for at least ÂŁ200m. However, the deal needed to be cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority of the UK before completion.
By the end of 2016, Delivery Hero had assembled one of the most geographically diverse portfolios in the food delivery industry. The question now was whether the public markets would validate the vision.
V. The 2017 IPO: Germany's Largest Tech Listing
By early 2017, Delivery Hero had spent six years and hundreds of millions acquiring its way to global scale. The time had come to test whether public market investors would embrace the narrative.
In January 2017, CEO Niklas Ă–stberg announced that he wanted his company to be ready for an IPO in the second quarter of that year. Delivery Hero would focus on the integration of the recently acquired competitor Foodpanda.
The pre-IPO fundraising secured a crucial anchor investor. In May 2017, Naspers, a global internet and entertainment group and one of the world's largest technology investors, invested EUR 387 million in Delivery Hero. Having one of the world's most successful technology investors—Naspers was best known for its early investment in Tencent—lend their imprimatur was a powerful signal.
The IPO exceeded expectations. Delivery Hero AG is set to complete Germany's biggest tech listing in three years, after pricing the highly awaited 996 million euro ($1.1 billion) initial public offering at the top end of its range. Delivery Hero set a final offer price of 25.50 euros per share, the Berlin-based company said Thursday, at the ceiling of a range projected as low as 22 euros last week.
The startup, which connects customers and restaurants via its apps, will start trading Friday in Frankfurt.
Delivery Hero's valuation topped $5 billion after the food delivery firm went public in a listing on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
Having raised close to €1 billion, it was the largest German IPO in 2017. Today we're celebrating our first anniversary as a listed company – and Delivery Hero has literally just started.
For Rocket Internet, the IPO represented vindication. Today's IPO is a major boon for Rocket Internet, which owns a 35 percent stake in Delivery Hero thanks to the FoodPanda deal. (Investment firm Naspers is another large owner with a 10 percent stake courtesy of a pre-IPO investment.) German incubator-cum-investor Rocket Internet has been criticized for a portfolio of loss-making business, although it has now managed to exit two of its highest profile ventures.
The IPO prospectus revealed a company with impressive scale but persistent losses. It booked a total loss of €202 million ($230 million) last year, although total revenue for 2016 did rise 71 percent year-on-year to reach €347 million ($390 million) and overall orders rose by 51 percent, too. That was thanks in no small part to its acquisition of Rocket Internet's FoodPanda business which gave Delivery Hero a presence in 20 new countries across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and strengthened its position in many others.
This was the central tension investors had to underwrite: could Delivery Hero's growth trajectory eventually generate profits, or would the food delivery model prove structurally unprofitable? The market, riding the enthusiasm of the tech boom, bet on growth.
Ă–stberg framed the opportunity in ambitious terms. "The expected launch of our IPO is an important and exciting next step for us. We will continue our successful journey as a listed company and will seek to further expand our global leadership position in the online food ordering and delivery market."
VI. Post-IPO Growth & Index Inclusion (2018-2020)
The years following the IPO would see Delivery Hero cement its position among Germany's corporate elite—even as it made the paradoxical decision to exit its home market.
Delivery Hero joined the MDAX less than a year after the IPO. The MDAX tracks the 50 largest and most liquid companies under the DAX tracking Germany's 30 listed players by size.
The company continued deploying capital into strategic investments. In December 2017, Delivery Hero led the Series B funding round of Rappi, the largest on-demand delivery company in Latam, operating in 5 countries with over 30,000 couriers. Delivery Hero invested $105M and now holds a stake of 20%, becoming the largest shareholder of the company and bringing Niklas Oestberg to its board of directors.
Then came the move that shocked observers: exiting Germany. In December 2018, Delivery Hero sold their German operations to Takeaway.com.
Berlin-based online food delivery company Delivery Hero is selling its German operations to the Dutch competitor Takeaway.com for €930 million. The deal includes Lieferheld, Pizza.de, and foodora.
One more big consolidation play is underway in the highly competitive European food delivery business, amid more pressure from newer players like Uber Eats and Deliveroo. Today, Delivery Hero announced that it will be selling its operations in Germany — its actual home market — to Dutch rival Takeaway.com for a total consideration of €930 million.
The irony was thick. Here was a Berlin-headquartered company exiting Berlin. But the strategic logic was sound: Meanwhile, Delivery Hero is applauded for its decision to cut its losses and focus on winning markets: ~80% of Delivery Hero's GMV will now come from markets where it has a #1 position. Its projected growth will increase from 45% to about 50% YoY growth for 2019E.
MENA, its most profitable and fastest growing market, will now also become its largest with €260 million revenues in 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic would provide an unexpected tailwind. As lockdowns forced restaurants to close dining rooms worldwide, food delivery became essential infrastructure. Delivery Hero's geographic diversification—with heavy exposure to markets where delivery culture was already embedded—proved advantageous.
Then came the ultimate corporate recognition. Delivery Hero SE will replace defunct payments company Wirecard AG in Germany's prestigious DAX benchmark on Monday, the index's owner has announced.
Germany's blue-chip DAX index will be replacing Wirecard, the disgraced payments company, with a new listing for Berlin's Delivery Hero. Germany's blue-chip DAX index will be replacing Wirecard, the disgraced payments company, with a new listing for Berlin's Delivery Hero, the Financial Times reported.
The context was extraordinary. Wirecard, once Germany's fintech darling, had collapsed in one of Europe's largest corporate fraud scandals. The company that replaced it operated in over 40 countries but had no sales in its home market.
Delivery Hero is worth around €20 billion, about three times its value when it debuted on the German stock market in June 2017. Delivery Hero is a somewhat surprising entry into the elite index because, despite trading in more than 40 countries, it has no sales in Germany - unprecedented for a DAX company - even though it was founded in Berlin in 2011.
"Entering the DAX is an acknowledgement that the capital market believes in our platform", said chief executive, Niklas Ostberg.
VII. The Woowa Brothers Mega-Deal: Korea Dominance at a Price (2020-2021)
South Korea represented one of the world's most attractive food delivery markets: high urbanization, sophisticated digital consumers, and a culture where delivery was deeply embedded. Delivery Hero had been building its position through YoGiYo and Baedaltong, but the market leader remained out of reach—until 2019.
Delivery Hero announced the strategic partnership with Woowa on December 13, 2019. The transaction valued Woowa at USD 4.0 billion (EUR 3.6 billion) on a cash free and debt free basis, before certain adjustments.
Woowa Brothers operated Baedal Minjok (Baemin), the dominant player in Korean food delivery. The acquisition would give Delivery Hero a commanding position in one of the world's most developed delivery markets.
Currently, Woowa Brothers operates the No.1 food delivery application Baedal Minjok (Baemin), which takes up a 55.7 percent market share, according to the Korea Franchise Association. Yogiyo and No.3 player Baedaltong, which is also operated by Delivery Hero, have a 33.5 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. If the KFTC approves Woowa Brothers' acquisition by Delivery Hero, the combined entity will monopolize the market with a 100 percent share.
Therein lay the regulatory problem. The Korea Fair Trade Commission faced intense pressure. Combining the #1, #2, and #3 players into a single entity would create unprecedented market concentration.
South Korea's antitrust watchdog ordered Delivery Hero SE to sell its local unit before proceeding with its planned acquisition of the country's largest food delivery platform. The Korea Fair Trade Commission approved Delivery Hero's takeover of Woowa Brothers Corp. under the condition that it divests Delivery Hero Korea, which operates the nation's second largest food delivery app under the Yogiyo brand.
This was a bitter pill. Delivery Hero would gain Baemin but lose Yogiyo—the brand it had built up over years. "We are deeply saddened by the required condition to divest Delivery Hero's subsidiary Delivery Hero Korea in South Korea. I want to personally express our gratitude to the team for all these years of collaboration and quest to create an amazing customer experience."
Following the written decision by the Korea Fair Trade Commission on February 2nd 2021, Delivery Hero has taken all actions to close the transaction in relation to Woowa Brothers Corp., South Korea's largest online food delivery platform. The Delivery Hero share capital increase and the subsequent admission for trading is pending.
The combined scale was impressive. On a pro forma basis, the merged entity represented enormous scale in Asia's most attractive delivery market—even after the required divestiture.
VIII. Glovo Acquisition & European Consolidation (2021-2022)
While South Korea grabbed headlines, Delivery Hero was also consolidating its European position through the acquisition of Spanish unicorn Glovo.
German online food delivery service, Delivery Hero, which currently own a 43.8 percent stake in Barcelona based unicorn Glovo, has now signed an agreement for an additional 39.4 percent stake. The transaction values Glovo at €2.3 billion on a fully diluted and debt-free basis and will make Delivery Hero the largest shareholder of the company.
The company has a complementary footprint to Delivery Hero, operating in over 1,300 cities in 25 countries across Europe, Central Asia and Africa. In many of their markets, Glovo has become the most loved app, connecting approximately 15 million active users annually with 70,000 monthly active couriers and 130,000 monthly active partners. Today, Glovo has a run-rate of approximately EUR 3 billion in GTV with 80% organic growth rate in 2021 and EUR 800 million in revenue.
Delivery Hero SE has successfully taken all closing actions for the transaction in relation to GlovoApp23, S.A. ("Glovo"). The Company will be the majority shareholder of Glovo and will hold approximately 94% of shares on a non-diluted basis in the leading multi-category delivery platform.
Glovo's strong presence in Southern Europe and EEMEA complements Delivery Hero's global footprint, bringing the total number of countries up to 74 and serving up to 2.2 billion people across four continents. The strategic partnership resulting from this transaction will allow both companies to leverage each other's technological and operational expertise.
However, the acquisition would later create significant legal problems, as the European Commission began investigating the competitive coordination between the two companies during the period of minority shareholding.
IX. The German Re-entry Saga & Strategic Pivots (2021-2024)
In one of the most fascinating strategic reversals in corporate history, Delivery Hero attempted to re-enter Germany—and failed spectacularly.
Delivery Hero is winding down its food delivery operations in Germany, just four months after officially relaunching its services in the country. The Berlin-headquartered food delivery firm's Foodpanda unit will exit six German cities including Cologne, DĂĽsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart.
In May, Delivery Hero announced plans to re-enter Germany under its Foodpanda brand, with operations officially commencing in August. The company's short-lived return highlights the struggle to carve out significant market share in the highly localized food delivery business.
"Facing a very different reality now than we did entering these markets, it is with a heavy heart that we need to pursue other growth opportunities with larger potential," said Niklas Ă–stberg, Delivery Hero's CEO and co-founder.
The failed re-entry underscored a brutal truth about food delivery: winner-take-all dynamics are real. Once a competitor has established dominance in a market, dislodging them requires enormous capital and often proves impossible.
The company pivoted toward quick commerce—delivering groceries and essentials in minutes rather than just restaurant food. Delivery Hero has increasingly branched out beyond food delivery, and is a leading player in the emerging category of quick commerce, which delivers small batch orders in under an hour.
In 2024, Delivery Hero continued portfolio optimization. In May 2024, Uber announced its intention to purchase Delivery Hero's business in Taiwan, for $1.25 billion.
X. The Path to Profitability & Talabat IPO (2023-2024)
After years of prioritizing growth over profits, Delivery Hero entered 2024 with a transformed strategy: profitability and positive cash flow became the primary focus.
The Company showed a very strong performance, meeting its full year guidance, with Total Segment Revenue up by 22% YoY to €12.8 billion. EBITDA reached around €750 million from €254 million in FY 2023.
Free Cash Flow for FY 2024 increased by around €466 million to around €100 million. Delivery Hero also reported GMV growth of 8.3% for FY 2024, at €48.8 billion, and strong cash reserves of €3.8 billion.
The transformation was dramatic. From nearly half a billion euros in negative adjusted EBITDA to three-quarters of a billion in positive EBITDA—a swing of over €1.2 billion.
Niklas Ă–stberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Delivery Hero, said: "I am very proud of our team's achievements. In 2024, we continued to invest in our products and services to ensure we deliver higher revenues, stronger profit margins, and maintain a solid cash position. As a result, we beat our guidance on growth and profitability."
The crown jewel remained MENA. The region's profitability and growth profile made it an ideal candidate for a separate public listing. The record-breaking Offering was the largest global technology IPO in 2024 to date, the largest IPO in the GCC this year to date and the first ever technology sector IPO on DFM.
Talabat's GMV for the first nine months of 2024 was $5.4 billion, up 21% year-over-year. Revenue increased 32% to $2.1 billion, while net profit rose 72% to $271 million.
For the month of September 2024, talabat had more than 6 million active customers, more than 65,000 active Partners and more than 119,000 active riders, making us the largest platform in the countries in which we operate.
Talabat, the leading on-demand delivery platform in the MENA region, made its debut on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) today, marking the largest global technology IPO of 2024. However, the company's shares closed 6.9% lower at 1.49 dirhams, dampening some of the excitement around its successful fundraising.
Looking ahead, Delivery Hero expects continued growth in 2025, with GMV increasing by 8-10% throughout FY 2025, and Total Segment Revenue rising by 17-19%. Adj. EBITDA is projected to reach between €975-1,025 million, while Free Cash Flow is expected to exceed €200 million.
XI. Regulatory & Labor Challenges
The gig economy model that powers Delivery Hero faces mounting legal and regulatory pressure worldwide. The company's treatment of delivery workers—classifying them as independent contractors rather than employees—has become a flashpoint.
The Rider Classification Debate
In general, and in contrast to recent legal precedents in Canada and Australia, Delivery Hero does not classify these couriers as employees. This policy has led to ongoing legal battles and labour disputes, and may be linked to the shutdowns of Delivery Hero's operations in several countries.
Spain's Rider Law Impact
Spain enacted one of Europe's strictest gig economy laws in 2021, mandating that delivery platforms employ riders as salaried workers. Glovo, Delivery Hero's Spanish subsidiary, faced enormous fines for non-compliance.
Labour authorities imposed the record fine for having recruited 10,614 workers as "false self-employed" and not as formal or permanent employees, thus violating the country's Social Security law.
Glovo has been fined a total of 205 million euros for alleged breaches in Spain in recent years.
Spain's homegrown on-demand delivery app, Glovo — which since the end of last year has been majority owned by Germany's Delivery Hero — has been fined €79 million for breaches of labor laws related to the employment classification of couriers. El Pais reported that the record sanction for the company was issued for a finding that the startup had 10,614 workers falsely classed as "autónomos" (aka self employed) in Barcelona and Valencia.
The EU Antitrust Case
In June 2025, Delivery Hero faced a landmark antitrust penalty. The Commission's investigation into anti-competitive agreements between Germany's Delivery Hero and Spain's Glovo, two of Europe's largest food delivery companies, has seen the companies slapped with a total fine of €329 million.
On June 2, 2025, the Commission fined Delivery Hero and Glovo €329 million for a cartel in the online food delivery sector. During Delivery Hero's non-controlling minority shareholding in Glovo from 2018 to 2022, the parties (1) agreed not to poach each other's employees; (2) divided national markets among themselves, and (3) exchanged commercially sensitive information.
This decision marks the first time the Commission has found anticompetitive collusion in the context of a minority shareholding. This is not the only first: the decision also marks the first time the Commission has fined labor market practices for breaching antitrust law.
The commission said Delivery Hero and Glovo agreed to avoid entering countries where one company was already present, and coordinated which one should enter in markets where neither had a presence yet. As of July 2020, the two companies had fully ceased to compete with each other by carefully avoiding being present in the same markets.
These regulatory challenges represent material risks. The employment classification issue could fundamentally alter the unit economics of the business if delivery riders become employees entitled to benefits, minimum wages, and social security contributions.
XII. Business Model Deep Dive
Understanding Delivery Hero requires grasping its evolution from simple marketplace to integrated delivery platform.
The Platform Model
Delivery Hero SE is a German multinational online food ordering and food delivery company based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 2011, the company operates in 60+ countries internationally in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin and South America, and the Middle East, and partners with 500,000+ restaurants.
Revenue Streams
The business generates revenue through multiple channels: - Commissions: Percentage of order value charged to restaurant partners - Delivery fees: Charged to customers for the logistics service - Advertising: Promoted listings and featured placements for restaurants - Quick commerce: Revenue from Dmarts (delivery-only supermarkets)
The Evolution from Marketplace to Own-Delivery
Delivery Hero joined the MDAX less than a year after the IPO. The MDAX tracks the 50 largest and most liquid companies under the DAX tracking Germany's 30 listed players by size.
The transition from pure marketplace (connecting customers to restaurants that handle their own delivery) to own-delivery (operating the logistics fleet) represents a fundamental strategic shift. Own-delivery provides better customer experience and higher take rates but requires significant capital investment in logistics infrastructure and rider networks.
Brand Portfolio Strategy
Delivery Hero operates a portfolio of local brands rather than a single global brand. Delivery Hero, through its subsidiary brands which include foodpanda, Glovo, PedidosYa, tabalat and Beamin, has the most active users.
This localized approach reflects the reality that food delivery is fundamentally a local business. Customer preferences, restaurant relationships, and regulatory environments vary dramatically by market.
Geographic Segment Performance
The MENA region stands out as the most profitable. Berlin-based global food (and grocery) delivery giant Delivery Hero is one of the biggest technology companies with local operations all across the Middle East. It earned close to $800 million in revenue from the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey in 2019 after witnessing an increase of 126 percent from the year before. This was almost half of company's total revenue from its operations across the world.
XIII. Playbook: Business & Investing Lessons
The Acquisition Playbook
Delivery Hero's growth story is fundamentally an M&A story. The company has completed dozens of acquisitions across multiple continents, building scale through consolidation rather than organic market-by-market expansion.
The pattern is consistent: 1. Identify the #1 or #2 player in a target market 2. Acquire with a mix of cash and stock 3. Integrate the platform onto global technology infrastructure 4. Let local management continue operating with autonomy
This playbook proved more capital-efficient than fighting expensive market-share battles. When you can buy market leadership, why compete for it?
Emerging Market Focus
The decision to exit Germany and focus on emerging markets proved strategically sound. These markets offered: - Higher growth rates - Less entrenched competition - Consumers leapfrogging to mobile-first ordering - Favorable demographics (young, urban populations)
Key Lessons for Investors
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Winner-take-all dynamics are real: Food delivery exhibits classic platform economics. The leader in each market enjoys structural advantages that compound over time.
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Geographic focus matters: Not all markets are equally attractive. MENA proved far more profitable than European markets with entrenched competitors.
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Profitability can come eventually: After years of losses, Delivery Hero demonstrated that food delivery can generate positive unit economics at scale.
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Regulatory risk is material: Labor classification and antitrust enforcement represent existential risks to the gig economy model.
XIV. Competitive Landscape & Strategic Analysis
The Global Competitive Map
In 2023, Uber Eats generated approximately 12.2 billion U.S. dollars in global revenue, surpassing food delivery competitors Delivery Hero and DoorDash, whose worldwide revenue amounted to about 11 billion and 8.6 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.
Uber, DoorDash and Meituan have reached profitability, but others, such as Just Eat and Delivery Hero, have struggled to grow since the pandemic.
Porter's Five Forces Analysis
Threat of New Entrants: MEDIUM-LOW The capital requirements to build delivery networks and restaurant partnerships create meaningful barriers. However, well-funded entrants (Uber, DoorDash) can and do enter new markets.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Restaurants): MEDIUM Restaurants depend on delivery platforms for incremental orders but resent high commission rates. Multi-homing (listing on multiple platforms) is common.
Bargaining Power of Customers: HIGH Switching costs are minimal. Customers easily download competitor apps and follow promotions.
Threat of Substitutes: MEDIUM Cooking at home, dining out, and direct restaurant delivery all compete. Quick commerce faces competition from traditional grocery.
Competitive Rivalry: HIGH Intense competition in most markets with significant marketing spend required to maintain share.
Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers Framework
Network Effects: PRESENT BUT MODERATE Two-sided platform effects exist but are localized to each market. More restaurants attract more customers, and vice versa.
Economies of Scale: STRONG IN TECH, WEAK IN DELIVERY Central technology platforms benefit from scale. Delivery logistics have less scale advantage—each city requires its own rider network.
Switching Costs: LOW Neither customers nor restaurants face meaningful switching costs.
Counter-Positioning: NOT APPLICABLE Competitors have adopted similar models.
Cornered Resource: LIMITED No proprietary technology or exclusive relationships create durable advantages.
Process Power: MODERATE Operational excellence in logistics creates some differentiation in delivery times and reliability.
Branding: STRONG IN SELECT MARKETS Talabat in MENA, Baemin in Korea have strong brand equity.
XV. Bull & Bear Cases
The Bull Case
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Profitability Inflection: After years of losses, Delivery Hero achieved positive free cash flow in 2024. Management has demonstrated discipline in cutting unprofitable markets and optimizing operations.
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MENA Dominance: The talabat business in the Middle East shows the potential—high growth, strong profitability, and dominant market positions. This template could be replicated elsewhere.
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Quick Commerce Optionality: The Dmarts business provides exposure to the growing instant grocery category. The Company's Dmarts business generated a positive Adj. EBITDA in December 2024.
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Valuation Gap: Over the past decade, Delivery Hero has accumulated net losses of 9.6 billion euros ($10.47 billion). Much of this was investment in building market positions that now generate cash.
The Bear Case
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Regulatory Overhang: Labor law changes in Europe could force reclassification of riders as employees, destroying unit economics. The €329 million EU antitrust fine signals ongoing regulatory risk.
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Competitive Intensity: Uber, DoorDash, and local champions compete aggressively. Marketing costs remain elevated.
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Korea Challenges: The Korean market, despite the expensive Woowa acquisition, faces pressure from competitors like Coupang Eats.
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Capital Intensity: Quick commerce requires significant investment in warehouses and inventory—a departure from the asset-light marketplace model.
XVI. Key Metrics to Watch
For investors tracking Delivery Hero, three KPIs deserve the closest attention:
1. GMV Growth (Gross Merchandise Value) GMV represents the total value of transactions flowing through Delivery Hero's platforms. It's the purest measure of platform scale and customer engagement. In FY 2024, Delivery Hero achieved €48.8 billion in GMV. Management is guiding for 8-10% growth in 2025.
2. Adjusted EBITDA Margin (as % of GMV) This metric captures operational efficiency—how much of each transaction dollar drops to the bottom line after covering delivery costs, technology, and corporate overhead. The path from negative margins to the 2024 achievement of approximately 1.5% margin shows operational leverage. Management targets 5-8% by 2030.
3. Free Cash Flow Cash flow generation ultimately determines whether the business creates value. The swing from cash burn to €100 million positive FCF in 2024 marked a crucial milestone. Management guides for >€200 million in 2025.
XVII. Conclusion: The Road Ahead
Delivery Hero's fourteen-year journey encapsulates the story of European internet entrepreneurship: ambitious founders, aggressive expansion, Rocket Internet backing, controversial tactics, massive acquisitions, a landmark IPO, and the painful transition from growth-at-all-costs to sustainable profitability.
From police raids in 2012 to DAX membership in 2020, from exiting Germany in 2018 to listing talabat in Dubai in 2024—the company has navigated extraordinary turbulence while building genuine global scale.
The Group will continue investing in technology and innovation to reinforce its position as the leading global delivery platform while driving profitability and cash flow.
The questions for the next chapter are clear: - Can Delivery Hero sustain profitability while competitors continue to invest? - Will regulatory headwinds force fundamental changes to the business model? - Can the Korea investment be salvaged despite intense local competition? - Will quick commerce prove to be a valuable extension or a distracting capital sink?
What began as four founders in a Berlin office has become a global platform serving billions of potential customers across four continents. Whether the next chapter brings consolidation of gains or new competitive challenges, Delivery Hero's story illuminates the brutal economics and massive potential of the food delivery revolution.
Material Legal & Regulatory Overhangs: - EU antitrust fine of €329 million (settled June 2025) - Spanish rider law fines totaling €205+ million for Glovo - Ongoing labor classification disputes across multiple jurisdictions - Provisions for Glovo Italy rider legal risks
Accounting Notes: - Significant goodwill on balance sheet from acquisitions ($4B Woowa alone had potential €1.4B impairment discussed) - Hyperinflationary accounting adjustments affect reported GMV in some markets - Free cash flow calculations exclude interest, which is material given €1.9B net debt
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