Yemek Sepeti expands into Greece

CEYHUN KUBURLU ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Turkish company Yemek Sepeti has announced that it will invest 3 million euros in a stake in a three-year-old Greek firm, Click Delivery SA, which was founded in 2010 as an online delivery service, according to a written statement yesterday. 

“The online food delivery sector has reached around 500 million euros in Greece. Their eating habits are very similar to ours. It is very suitable for us to open into Europe through Greece,” said Yemek Sepeti CEO Nevzat Aydın. 

The investment will aim at the consolidation of Click Delivery in the Greek market and will be implemented in stages. The founders of Click Delivery will retain control and management of the firm, while the Turkish company will seek to contribute decisively to the drafting of a growth strategy, offering know-how and specialized knowledge.

Yemek Sepeti, which was founded in 2001 by Nevzat Aydın and two other partners and is one of the biggest online food delivery platforms in the world, has made a strategic partnership agreement with U.S. investment firm General Atlantic. 

They started with only one city in Turkey, Istanbul, but now they list around 8,800 restaurants from many different cities. Around 60,000 orders are given via yemeksepeti.com on a daily basis. 

The company has already opened operations in Turkey’s surrounding region, such as in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Aydın said they grew very quickly in these two countries, hoping for the same in Greece as well. 

Yemek Sepeti made an investment in Russia, but the company closed down its operations in 2012 as Russia does not have the appropriate conditions that exist in Turkey, Aydın said, adding that the weather conditions were harsh and many restaurants were not ready to make rapid home deliveries.