Food Ordering Startup Delivery Hero Makes Second Acquisition In Six Months

Berlin-based Delivery Hero has made its second acquisition in six months, buying Kuwaiti rival Carriage for an undisclosed price.

According to Business Insider, the acquisition will expand Delivery Hero’s presence in the Middle East, where it already operates under the name Talabat. But unlike Carriage, Talabat doesn’t deliver food—it just provides an app interface through which customers place orders, and the restaurants then work out delivery logistics on their own.

With Carriage, which only operates in Kuwait, users can place an order for food via the app, and then a Carriage delivery driver will collect it from the chosen restaurant and deliver it. Carriage also allows restaurants that don’t offer delivery services themselves to be added to the marketplace.

“Carriage is an innovative player in the Middle Eastern food delivery market with an excellent management team,” said Delivery Hero CEO Niklas Östberg. “It will be a perfect addition to our current offering under the Talabat brand and will strengthen our foothold in this region, where we see significant growth potential.”

This is just one of many deals in the food delivery market, where major players like UberEats and Just Eat (which owns Delivery Hero’s UK business Hungryhouse) are fighting to stay on top. Just Eat bought Hungryhouse and Canadian firm Skipthedishes for £266 million in December, though the UK’s competition authorities are investigating the deal.

Delivery Hero is backed by German startup factory Rocket Internet. While it has effectively pulled out of the UK with the sale of Hungryhouse, its business is booming, especially in Asia. First quarter revenues rose 93 percent from €63 million (£55 million) in 2016 to €121 million (£105 million) in 2017, with Asian revenue up 222 percent.