Yalla Market

Yalla Market is an express grocery delivery service operating in Dubai, which was launched in August 2021 by Russians Leonid Dovbenko and Stanislav Seleznev. The service delivers free food and consumer goods from its own darkstores within a radius of 3 km.

History

2025: Shutdown

Dubai-based express grocery delivery service Yallamarket has ceased operations. This was announced in March 2025 by the founder of the service Leonid Dovbenko. He explained that the team had failed to build a sustainable business model and financial resources and energy had dried up. The strategy was based on two scenarios: to raise $100 million (raised $15 million) or to be absorbed by a large company. None of the scenarios came to fruition. Venture winter, sanctions began, invest thesis fell apart.^[1]

2022

Investment from the founder of Dodo Pizza Fyodor Ovchinnikov

The founder of Dodo Pizza Fyodor Ovchinnikov at the end of April 2022 invested in the Dubai delivery service YallaMarket, founded by Russians. The volume of investments and other parameters of the transaction were not reported.

This week made the first investment of his life as an investor. Before that, I only attracted money... Dubai is one of the few markets where the unit economy converges in the segment of ultra-fast grocery delivery, - said Fyodor Ovchinnikov, commenting on the investments of YallaMarket.

The founder of Dodo Pizza Fyodor Ovchinnikov invested in the Dubai delivery service YallaMarket, founded by Russians

The entrepreneur called the advantages of the new project: on the one hand, there is a solvent population with high demand and a need for delivery in 15 minutes, on the other hand, the cost of labor and delivery is no more than 10% of the average order amount: this creates opportunities for profitability of the economy and development.

Ovchinnikov added that he would "try to help" YallaMarket not only with money, but also with knowledge and experience. According to the co-founder of Yalla Market Leonid Dovbenko, the deal will allow Ovchinnikov to gain international experience, and the startup will receive a business consultant in his person - this will "accelerate the pace of development of the service."

As Warren Buffett said: Invest in what you understand. I have good experience in the food delivery business. I understand and can bring value, - wrote Fyodor Ovchinnikov in the Telegram channel.

According to YallaMarket's own data, which were released at the end of April 2022, downloads of the YallaMarket application are growing by 50% per month. The number of daily orders increased by 330% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the three previous months. In April 2022, YallaMarket announced that they would accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method.^[2]

Raising $2.2 million in investments

In mid-February 2022, it became known about investing $2.2 million in YallaMarket. The Qatar Doha Tech Angels fund, the Flyer One Ventures investment company (specializing in financing projects in the CIS countries) and the AngelsDeck venture investors club have invested in the Dubai express grocery delivery service founded by Russians as part of a bridge round .

The funds will be used to expand the network of darksters in the UAE, as well as to prepare for a new round of financing (scheduled for March 2022). At the same time, the parameters of the investment transaction, including the estimated value of the startup and the share of investors in the project, were not disclosed. It is only known that the total amount of investments in YallaMarket following the results of two rounds amounted to more than $5 million.

The Dubai express grocery delivery service Yalla Market, founded by Russians, raised $2.2 million

From the moment the pre-seed round closes in November 2021 to mid-February 2022, YallaMarket, according to its own data from the service, quadrupled the revenue and number of orders, and the growth of downloading the mobile application was 250%. The delivery area has expanded with the opening of new locations in the Dubai Marina and Dubai Silicon Oasis areas.

The UAE is actively introducing technology into all spheres of life, so this is a promising market for projects targeted by AngelsDeck. Already, we can say that the MENA region (Middle East and Africa) has every chance of becoming one of the leaders in grocery delivery in 10-15 minutes. Therefore, we are very happy to become a partner of YallaMarket, the first hyperlocal delivery service in the UAE, and we believe that the project has a great future, - comments Igor Kaloshin, CEO of the AngelsDeck club.

According to Redseer analysts, the e-commerce market in the Middle East and North Africa will be 24% and will reach $20 billion by 2024. By the beginning of 2022, about 20% of the region's digital economy is occupied by the rapid delivery segment.^[3]

2021: Raising $2.3 million in investments

In November 2021, the Yalla Market service raised $2.3 million in investments as part of a pre-seed funding round, which included venture capital funds Wamda and Dubai Angel Investors, as well as private Dubai and Russian investors. As a result of this transaction, the startup was valued at $10 million.

The Yalla Market team intends to spend the raised funds on opening new outlets in the UAE, as well as updating the mobile application and expanding the operating team (by the end of November 2021, ex-managers of the local Amazon and the 7-Eleven supermarket chain are responsible for the development and assortment).

Dubai express grocery delivery service Yalla Market raised $2.3 million

It is reported that the new version of the application will adapt to the preferences of a specific user, so that the buyer can save time on compiling the cart.

By the end of November 2021, the delivery range on the platform includes 2800 items. According to the company's own data, it takes no more than 2.5 minutes to assemble the order, due to which the entire order delivery process averages 15 minutes. Users order products through the service's mobile application on average 4-5 times a week.

In 2021, Yalla Market opened the first darkstore in the high-density residential community of Jumeirah Lake Towers. A second warehouse launched in November 2021 at Dubai's business hub Business Bay. By the end of the year, another 4 darkstores will be launched in Dubai.

In 2022, the company intends to launch 100 new darkstores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the first warehouses will also appear in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.^[4]

Notes