On January 6, 2024, inDrive announced a "strategic investment" in the company "Rядом". This online service specializes in fast delivery of groceries and ready-made meals, owned by Choco Holding. No specific details about the deal were disclosed in the information provided by inDrive's press service. It was noted only that the transaction was executed through the venture division of New Ventures, the corporate department of inDrive, which is focused on investing in high-potential startups in emerging markets. The rationale for this "strategic investment" was inDrive's desire to "strengthen the Rядом service as one of the leaders in the rapidly growing e-commerce sector within the e-grocery segment." The investment amount was not disclosed.
Forbes Kazakhstan sought further details from Ramil Mukhorapov, the founder of Choco Holding. During the conversation, he also refrained from disclosing the investment amount, citing that this information was not to be revealed "at the request of inDrive." Ramil Mukhorapov did confirm that control over the Rядом service is now being transferred to the investing company. "Thus, Rядом is becoming a company under inDrive's control," the businessman stated.
— inDrive will hold just over 50%, while Choco will retain the remainder. Why was this decision made? Because it's a great opportunity for development and entry into markets of other countries. This is better than simply owning 100% of a company that only grows locally; this way, we can access a global market. InDrive is present in 46 countries, and in some of them, the taxi market is 50-60% owned by us, as seen in several Latin American countries. If Rядом expands into these countries, a large portion of the population could already be our potential clients. This is an excellent opportunity to quickly enter markets in countries where we might never have ventured or would have taken decades to reach, — Ramil Mukhorapov explained.
According to the businessman, preparations for this deal took about a year.
Rядом operates a network of 19 dark stores in Almaty and Astana. Each dark store is a grocery warehouse of about 300 square meters, serving a nearby area within a radius of up to 1.2 km. 90% of orders, as claimed by the company, are delivered using eco-friendly transport (bicycles, electric scooters) within 15 minutes. Choco Holding also includes the group buying service Chocolife.me, the restaurant food delivery service Chocofood, the restaurant automation service Choco Smart Restaurants, and the doctor search service iDoctor.
In 2023, Choco sold its online travel services Aviata and Chocotravel to the Freedom holding for $32 million, and in 2021, it sold its stake in the HR Messenger service of the Avito company.
The editorial team of Forbes Kazakhstan also reached out to the inDrive press service for comments.