Type of site | E-commerce |
|---|---|
| Available in | English, Arabic |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Area served | |
| Owner | Delivery Hero SE |
| Founder | Abdulaziz Al Loughani |
| CEO | Tomaso Rodriguez |
| Industry | Internet |
| Services | Online food ordering, Food delivery |
| Employees | >16,000 |
| URL | www |
Talabat (Arabic: طلبات, romanized: Ṭalabāt) is an online food ordering company founded in Kuwait in 2004. As of April 2021,[update] It operates across several Middle Eastern countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq. Since 2016, Talabat has been a subsidiary of Delivery Hero, a German multinational online food delivery company.
History

In 2001, four Kuwaiti students in Cairo developed the idea for a company modeled on the Egyptian food ordering service Otlob. In 2004, they founded Talabat General Trading and Contracting Company in Kuwait.[1][2] The name "Talabat" derives from the Arabic language and it means "orders" or "requests".[3]
In 2008 and 2009, Talabat received the “Best E-Business” award in Kuwait.[4][5] with recognition presented by the Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.[6]
In 2009, the business was operating out of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with an average of 1,250 daily transactions. Talabat then underwent changes such as the re-branding from 6alabat.com to Talabat.com, a shift from a hybrid form of Arabic and English spelling to a pure English spelling.[7]
In 2011, the company introduced a new website layout and changes to the user interface.
In 2012, Talabat began operating in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.[8]
In 2013, it began operating in Qatar.[9]
In 2015, Talabat was acquired by the global German e-commerce group Rocket Internet for US$170 million. [10] It became part of Rocket Internet's business unit Global Online Takeaway Group.[11]
In 2016, Rocket Internet's food delivery business, including Talabat, was taken over by online food marketplace Delivery Hero.[12] In line with this acquisition, Abdulhamid Alomar took over as the CEO of the company.[13]
In 2017, Talabat launched operations in Jordan.[14]
In 2019, former Grab executive Tomaso Rodriguez was appointed as CEO, after the stepping down of Abdulhamid Alomar. [15]
Lawsuits were filed against the company after they were found violating fair competition rules in Kuwait. A settlement plea made by Talabat was also turned down. [16]
In January 2020, the food delivery company Carriage,[17] also owned by Delivery Hero, was absorbed by Talabat. [18][19]
In August 2020, it had been confirmed that the Egyptian food delivery service Otlob, which was in operation since 1999, had become a Delivery Hero subsidiary in 2016. It is getting rebranded as Talabat. As of September 2020, Talabat operates in Egypt.[20]
In October 2020, Talabat stated that it would begin operations in Iraq in early 2021, starting in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, with plans to add other cities later.[21]
In December 2020, Talabat’s app was added to the Huawei marketplace.[22]
In August 2021, Talabat was named the official food delivery provider for Expo 2020. Its pavilion presented concepts such as the cloud kitchen and featured multiple food brands.[23] In September 2021, Talabat and Terminus Group introduced ten autonomous food delivery robots for use by Expo 2020 visitors.[24] Expo 2020 itself launched on October 2021 following a year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] While Talabat previously operated in Saudi Arabia, it no longer does. Users in Saudi Arabia are now redirected to HungerStation, another Delivery Hero subsidiary that serves the Saudi market.[26]
References
- ^ The war story behind Rocket Internet's acquisition of Kuwait's Talabat, retrieved 20 May 2025
- ^ "Lets Talk Business". GulfBank.
- ^ "Development Cost Of A Food Delivery App Like Talabat". www.royex.ae.
- ^ Devadiga, Kirti (7 February 2023). "Best E-Business Award Archives". LoudBol.
- ^ "How did Kuwait produce some of the Middle East's largest exits?". Wamda. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ Devadiga, Kirti (7 February 2023). "receiving special appreciation from Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Archives". LoudBol.
- ^ Kadhem, Masooma. "Disrupting An Industry In Five Steps – The Talabat Way – StartUp Bahrain".
- ^ Kamel, Deena (12 July 2021). "Food delivery service Talabat to expand UAE operations". The National.
- ^ Alagos, Peter (18 June 2022). "talabat plays key role in regional expansion of 'Made in Qatar' brand". Gulf Times.
- ^ "Rocket Internet acquires Kuwait's Talabat for $170M, largest MENA tech acquisition since Maktoob". Wamda. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
- ^ "Rocket Internet's Food Group Eats Up Talabat For $170M And 24h In The Middle East". TechCrunch. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
- ^ "Delivery Hero's Kuwait 2018 revenue surges twofold to $110 million, Saudi grows 87% to $103 million". MENAbytes. 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
- ^ "Food on-demand: In conversation with Talabat.com". www.sme10x.com.
- ^ "Talabat Jordan expands operations to cover entire Kingdom". www.zawya.com.
- ^ "Delivery Hero's Talabat appoints former Grab executive Tomaso Rodriguez as CEO". MENAbytes. 2019-09-29. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
- ^ "Settlement offer from Talabat and Carriage refused". Arab Times Online. 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
- ^ "Delivery Hero announces acquisition of Middle Eastern delivery service Carriage | Delivery Hero". www.deliveryhero.com.
- ^ "Delivery Hero's Talabat absorbs Carriage's operations across the region". MENAbytes. 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Kuwaiti food delivery startup Carriage was acquired for ~$100 million by Delivery Hero". MENAbytes. 2017-09-27. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ Paracha, Zubair Naeem (2020-08-05). "Delivery Hero is rebranding Otlob to Talabat, plans to create 50,000 freelance rider jobs in Egypt". MENAbytes. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
- ^ Mansoor, Zainab (2020-10-15). "Talabat to launch operations in Iraq". Gulf Business. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
- ^ البيان, دبي-. "طلبات ينضم إلى متجر هواوي للتطبيقات في الإمارات - الاقتصادي - السوق المحلي - البيان". www.albayan.ae (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-01-04.
- ^ "Talabat selected as official food delivery provider for Expo 2020 Dubai". Arabian Business. 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
- ^ "Talabat Partners with Terminus Group to Launch Sustainable Last-Mile Delivery with Fully Autonomous Food Delivery Robots at Expo 2020 Dubai". Associated Press. 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
- ^ "Dubai Expo 2020 postponed to October 1, 2021". cbc.ca.
- ^ "Hungerstation | Delivery Hero : Delivery Hero - The Easiest Way to Your Favourite Food". Archived from the original on 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2025-08-18.
