Uber To Buy Delivery Arm Of Turkey’s Getir

Uber buys Getir delivery arm for $435 million to dominate Turkey's booming market

Uber has acquired Getir's food delivery business in Turkey for $335 million upfront, plus a $100 million investment for a 15% stake in the startup's grocery and retail delivery operations. The deal, announced February 9, 2026, marks Uber's most significant push yet into Turkey's rapidly growing delivery ecosystem—a market expanding at 13.5% annually. Getir's food delivery segment alone generated over $1 billion in gross bookings during 2025, surging 50% year-over-year despite the company's broader retrenchment from international markets.

Credit: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg / Getty Images

The acquisition positions Uber to capitalize on Turkey's digital commerce boom while absorbing a battle-tested logistics network that once symbolized the country's startup ambition. For Getir's former investors, the transaction offers an orderly exit after years of turbulence following the company's $12 billion valuation peak during the pandemic delivery frenzy.

Why Mubadala sold Getir's crown jewel

Uber purchased Getir's delivery assets directly from Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi–based sovereign wealth fund that served as Getir's controlling shareholder. Mubadala began exploring a sale of its Getir stake in 2025 as the startup struggled to maintain momentum beyond its Turkish home market.

The Emirati fund's decision reflects a broader recalibration among Middle Eastern investors toward assets with clear paths to profitability rather than growth-at-all-costs models. Getir's aggressive global expansion—particularly its costly U.S. launch and European acquisitions between 2020 and 2022—ultimately proved unsustainable when post-pandemic consumer habits normalized. By 2024, Getir shuttered its American operations entirely, laying off thousands of employees and retreating to its core Turkish business where unit economics remained viable.

Mubadala's $435 million recovery represents a fraction of its original investment but provides liquidity amid tightening venture capital conditions across emerging markets. The structured deal—$335 million immediate payment plus a minority stake in Getir's remaining grocery operations—allows Uber to test integration before committing to a full buyout of those divisions over the next several years.

Getir's dramatic rise and strategic retreat

Founded in Istanbul in 2015, Getir pioneered the "ultrafast" delivery model that promised groceries and meals in under 20 minutes. The startup became Turkey's first decacorn after raising billions during the pandemic, when lockdowns supercharged demand for instant commerce. At its zenith, Getir operated across 15 countries and employed more than 40,000 couriers globally.

But the model faced structural challenges once pandemic restrictions lifted. Ultrafast delivery's unit economics depend on dense urban populations ordering frequently—a formula that worked in Istanbul but faltered in markets like the United States where customer acquisition costs soared and order frequency lagged projections. Competitors like Gorillas and Buyk collapsed entirely, while others scaled back ambitions.

Getir's leadership made the difficult choice in 2024 to exit unprofitable markets and refocus exclusively on Turkey, where brand recognition and operational density created defensible advantages. That strategic pivot preserved the company's core food delivery business—now valued at over $1 billion in annual bookings—which ultimately attracted Uber's interest as a turnkey entry into Turkey's digital ecosystem.

What Uber gains beyond market share

This acquisition delivers more than immediate revenue for Uber. The deal provides three strategic advantages critical to Uber's 2026 growth playbook:

First, Uber absorbs Getir's established merchant network of over 25,000 Turkish restaurants and food vendors—relationships that would take years to replicate organically. Second, Uber gains access to Getir's hyperlocal logistics infrastructure, including dark stores and routing algorithms optimized for Istanbul's complex urban geography. Third, the acquisition neutralizes a potential competitor in a market where Uber Eats has faced stiff competition from local players like Yemeksepeti.

Turkey represents Uber's fastest-growing regional market for delivery services in 2026, with the Europe-Middle East-Asia corridor now outpacing North American growth rates. Integrating Getir's technology stack could accelerate Uber's rollout of AI-powered delivery optimization across similar emerging markets in the Balkans and Central Asia.

Integration challenges ahead

Merging two delivery platforms presents operational complexities Uber must navigate carefully. Getir's brand enjoys strong loyalty among Turkish consumers who associate it with speed and reliability. Uber will need to balance brand preservation with platform consolidation—a delicate task after previous integration missteps in markets like Southeast Asia.

Workforce integration poses another challenge. Getir employs approximately 15,000 delivery couriers across Turkey who operate under different compensation structures than Uber's gig workers. Harmonizing pay models while maintaining service quality will require transparent communication and phased implementation to avoid driver attrition during the transition period.

Regulatory approval remains the immediate hurdle. Turkish competition authorities typically scrutinize foreign acquisitions of domestic tech champions, though Uber's prior investments in Turkish mobility startups may streamline the review process. The company expects regulatory clearance within 90 days.

The future of quick commerce in emerging markets

Uber's Getir acquisition signals a maturation of the quick commerce sector globally. The era of burning venture capital to subsidize 10-minute deliveries has ended. Instead, 2026's winning formula combines:

• Sustainable unit economics in dense urban cores
• Multi-service platforms that bundle food, grocery, and retail
• AI-driven logistics that optimize courier routes without requiring massive dark store footprints
• Strategic consolidation rather than market-by-market land grabs

Turkey exemplifies this new paradigm. Its digitally native population, concentrated urban centers, and cashless payment adoption create ideal conditions for profitable delivery operations—if operators avoid the overexpansion traps that sank earlier ultrafast pioneers.

Uber's move suggests confidence that Turkey's delivery market has reached an inflection point where scale and efficiency matter more than novelty. With food delivery penetration still below 30% nationally, significant growth runway remains for the combined entity.

What this means for Turkish consumers

Existing Getir customers will see minimal disruption during the transition period. Uber has committed to maintaining Getir's app functionality and delivery speed guarantees for at least 12 months post-acquisition. Over time, users can expect integration with Uber's broader ecosystem—potentially unlocking cross-platform rewards between ride-hailing, food delivery, and grocery services.

Restaurant partners may benefit from expanded reach through Uber's global merchant network while retaining Getir's localized marketing support. Small vendors that previously lacked resources to manage multiple delivery platforms could gain simplified operations through a unified Uber-Getir merchant portal launching later this year.

The acquisition also signals renewed investor confidence in Turkey's tech sector after several years of capital flight and currency volatility. As global platforms double down on Turkish digital infrastructure, local startups may find healthier exit opportunities and partnership pathways moving forward.

A calculated bet on regional dominance

Uber's $435 million investment reflects disciplined dealmaking rather than desperation. The price represents approximately 0.4x Getir's 2025 food delivery gross bookings—far below the 5x–10x multiples seen during the 2021 quick commerce bubble. For Uber, the math works: acquiring a billion-dollar revenue stream at this valuation accelerates its path to delivery profitability while blocking competitors from consolidating Turkey's market.

With autonomous vehicle partnerships expanding across the Middle East and delivery now contributing over 40% of Uber's global revenue, the Getir acquisition fits precisely within the company's capital-efficient growth strategy for 2026. The question isn't whether Uber can integrate Getir—it's whether this disciplined approach to emerging markets will become the blueprint for global platform expansion in an era of tempered expectations and demanding profitability standards.

For Turkey's digital economy, the deal offers validation. After years of hype and heartbreak, the country's most famous startup has found a sustainable path forward—not as a global disruptor, but as a valuable piece of infrastructure in the world's delivery ecosystem. Sometimes survival beats spectacle. And in 2026's market reality, that's victory enough.