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InDrive Launches Bold Super-App Strategy, Transforming Ride-Hailing Into a Comprehensive Service Ecosystem

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 9, 2025

Expanding Beyond Ride-Hailing

InDrive, recognized for its innovative bidding-based ride-hailing model and impressive global footprint—with over 360 million downloads and 6.5 billion transactions recorded to date—is set to redefine its role in frontier markets. The company is shifting its focus from solely facilitating rides to delivering a broad range of daily essentials, beginning with grocery deliveries in Kazakhstan and extending into multiple verticals across Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Pakistan, Peru, and Mexico over the coming year.

Kazakhstan: The Launchpad for Transformation

Choosing Kazakhstan as its inaugural market for the super-app rollout was a strategic decision. The largest economy in Central Asia has witnessed a significant digital shift, and InDrive has capitalized on this momentum. Operating from its hub in Kazakhstan where it maintains its largest workforce, InDrive’s grocery delivery service now offers over 5,000 products with a promise of delivery within 15 minutes. Early pilots indicate an impressive net promoter score of 83% along with robust user engagement—averaging five grocery orders per user per month.

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Innovating With a Dark Store Model

InDrive’s approach in Kazakhstan leverages a dark store model optimized for ready-to-eat meals and a selection of fresh items. This model, which has seen a 30% increase in dark store capacity since August, is designed to enhance customer retention by maintaining affordability and efficiency. In parallel, the company is open to local partnerships in regions with dense networks of neighborhood stores to refine its service delivery further.

A Differentiated Super-App Vision

While the super-app concept has seen mixed success globally—from WeChat’s triumphs to Meta’s challenges—InDrive is betting on an integrated platform that not only personalizes user experiences through AI but also broadens accessibility to include users with disabilities and lower literacy. By tapping into this model, the company aims to secure a loyal customer base that values cost-effective solutions, positioning itself as the Aldi of online groceries amid growing consumer expectations.

Navigating Challenges in Complex Markets

Despite InDrive’s successes in frontier markets, challenges remain, particularly in India. Here, the company contends with fierce competition from Uber, Ola, and Rapido, as well as historical safety concerns and model exploitation. InDrive’s leadership acknowledges these hurdles, emphasizing a renewed focus on educating both drivers and passengers to address safety perceptions and operational nuances.

Looking Ahead: Expanding Service Offerings

The super-app strategy does not end with grocery deliveries. InDrive envisions a multifaceted service portfolio that could soon include financial solutions such as micro-loans for drivers—a feature already rolling out in Brazil and Mexico—as well as micro-mobility services and other tailored local offerings. These initiatives are supported by a significant venture arm, with up to $100 million earmarked for strategic investments, underlining InDrive’s commitment to nurturing its ecosystem while addressing localized consumer needs.

InDrive’s ambitious transformation from a ride-hailing provider to a comprehensive digital service platform demonstrates its proactive approach to capturing emerging market opportunities. Whether through innovative logistics models or strategic regional investments, InDrive is poised to further disrupt traditional market boundaries and set new benchmarks in customer loyalty and operational efficiency.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

Cyprus Permit Delays Can Add €61,000 To The Cost Of A New Home

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

August 25, 2026

Housing affordability in Cyprus is being affected not only by property prices, construction costs and interest rates, but also by delays in securing planning and building permits. For developers, years of waiting can add millions of euros to project costs and tens of thousands of euros to the price of an individual home.

Property Prices And Rents Continue To Rise

House prices in Cyprus rose 3.4% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat, leaving prices about 50% above their 2015 level. Rents have also continued to increase, with the Cyprus Statistical Service reporting annual growth accelerating from 2.5% in January to 4.5% in April.

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Strong demand and limited supply are adding pressure to both markets. Delays earlier in the development cycle can further restrict the number of homes reaching the market.

Four-Year Delay Adds €6.3 Million To Project Costs

A recent analysis by Yiannis Misirlis, chairman of the Cyprus Land and Building Developers Association, illustrates the financial impact. The example involves a 125-apartment project with €7 million allocated to land and an estimated €25 million for construction, bringing the initial cost to €32 million.

If permits are secured within six months, the average sale price would be about €307,000 per apartment. A four-year permitting delay, however, would add about €1.7 million in financing costs tied to the land, €800,000 in additional overheads and €3.8 million from construction cost inflation.

Combined, those costs would add about €6.3 million to the project without increasing the developer’s profit. The average apartment price would rise to about €368,000, adding roughly €61,000 to each unit.

Delays Also Affect Rental Supply

Higher development costs can affect renters as well as buyers. When projects are delayed, fewer homes enter the market over a given period, limiting supply while demand continues to grow.

Build-to-rent projects face the same pressures from land costs, financing, overheads and construction inflation. Developers may ultimately pass some of those additional costs through to rents.

Government Moves To Increase Housing Supply

Reducing permitting times would not require weaker planning controls or construction standards. More predictable approval timelines would instead allow developers and investors to plan projects with greater certainty and reduce the costs associated with prolonged delays.

The Ministry of Interior has introduced planning incentives and additional building coefficients that are expected to support the construction of more than 2,500 homes over the next two years. The measures are intended to increase housing supply in a market where demand remains strong.

Permitting Delays Have A Direct Financial Cost

For developers, longer approval periods increase financing and overhead costs while exposing projects to higher construction prices. Those costs can ultimately affect sale prices, rents and the number of homes that reach the market.

Cyprus’ housing affordability challenge therefore extends beyond land and construction costs. The time required to move a project from planning to construction can also determine how much buyers and renters eventually pay.