EXCLUSIVE: talabat IPO ‘very successful’, plans 2025 product expansion, says CEO

The Middle East food delivery company’s public offering drew overwhelming investor interest, with orders surpassing available shares by more than ten times.

“We listed with a $1 billion market cap—raised it to $2 billion in the market. I think what has been exciting to see is that we were able to get a lot of local investors. However, the appetite for international investors was also extremely significant,” Rodriguez told Arabian Business.

Unchanged business strategy

Despite the shift to public ownership, Rodriguez explained that the company’s strategy remains unchanged. “Nothing has changed,” he said, highlighting talabat’s continued focus on its core food delivery operations.

“Over the last 10 years, talabat has always been focused on building a strong core business. Since 2019, we have expanded into new verticals such as grocery and retail, growing 47 per cent this year, and representing 1 per cent of the offline grocery market,” he said.

However, when asked how the company plans on standing out in a market that is also dominated by competitors such as ‘all-inclusive’ app Careem, noon and Deliveroo, Tomaso said talabat’s focus on a strong core business includes the “best selection of restaurants, groceries, etc., as well as the best fleet on ground—who can deliver efficiently and quickly.”

The chief executive further explained that the delivery platform has the “best offer” in terms of deals, discounts and affordability, especially after its collaboration with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) to launch a free-for-life talabat credit card, strengthening its market position.

“On top of being the best at what we do, we have also been launching new services and products much before our competitors—we always try to be two or three steps ahead. The fact that competitors come and copy is actually a good sign because we are doing something right. We just keep innovating and building, but that only works if you are good at your core mission and what you do to build a strong foundation,” Rodriguez said, adding that the company’s main philosophy is to “build an ecosystem.”

Unlike competitors such as Careem, which has diversified into taxi services, remittance, and home services, Rodriguez said talabat plans to maintain its focus on food and grocery delivery.

“We don’t believe in gaining customers, and then selling whatever we put on the app—because customers will go for whoever gives them the best offering, regardless of which app they are on. So, if we start selling hotel rooms, for example, probably no one will come to talabat for booking hotel rooms.

“So, we only launch products and services in which we can really excel at, and where we can create synergies with our core business—which is why we launched groceries. We thought, customers ordering food will also probably want groceries and with our fleet. Something that is completely disjointed with what we do and does not create synergies with our customers or riders or our partners, is not something we will ever venture into.”

talabat plans product expansion for 2025

The company has already begun expanding its reach, with Rodriguez highlighting the successful launch of subscription services in Egypt.

“I think the biggest factor is keep growing the business—because the more you grow, the more the business becomes efficient. We are very excited about our subscription product and we want to keep expanding the value proposition that we offer to our subscribers. There are very exciting things coming up,” Rodriguez said, adding that Iraq is also a “super-fast growing market.”

The company’s growth trajectory remains strong, with significant gains in 2024. “If you look at our profits and margins, you will see that we have had a very good year in terms of growth and we grew 23 per cent year-on-year in 2024,” he said, adding “I think growth, by vertical or by countries, is something that is going to be very strong for 2025.”