Foodpanda Acquires Local Competitors ‘Hungerstation’ in Saudi Arabia

Foodpanda, Berlin-based Rocket Internet’s online food delivery startup, announced today that its acquiring Hungerstation in Saudi Arabia. Hungerstation functions the same way as Foodpanda and was their biggest competitor in the Middle East market. The terms of the deal are not yet disclosed.

In the Middle East, Foodpanda operates under the Hellofood name and has been active in the area since 2013 while Hungerstation was founded in 2012 by Saudi entrepreneur Ebrahim Al-Jasim. Hungerstation will still continue to operate as a standalone site.

This combined business will cater to over 2,000 restaurants spread over 30 cities in the country and Foodpanda claims that the entire Middle Eastern business will now be profitable thanks to this deal.

“Along with our other businesses in the Middle East, Hungerstation and Hellofood consolidate our market leadership in the region and we are proud to have achieved overall profitability just three years after launch,” says Ralf Wenzel, CEO of Foodpanda.

The startup has been growing since its launch in 2012 and the last round of funding came in March 2015 when the company received $110 million from existing investors Rocket Internet. Foodpanda has established markets in 14 Asian nations and under their sister brands Hellofood and Delivery Hero, they are also in almost 40 countries.