User:Insta ioanna/sandbox

InstaShop
Founded in 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki, InstaShop is an E-commerce technology company that operates as a hyperlocal grocery shopping online marketplace in the MENA region. While the main business of InstaShop is grocery delivery, in 2019 it has expanded to include pet shop, butcheries, flower shops and other services all delivered on demand.

The mobile applications allow users to place online orders on iOS and Android. The headquarter office of InstaShop is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and as of the end of 2018 the company operates in 5 countries UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and Lebanon and has more than 150 employees as of December 2019.

How it Works
Customers use InstaShop through its mobile applications or web shop to shop online products from various local retailers based on proximity. Supermarkets and other retailers on InstaShop benefit from increased revenue and a wider reach due to their presence on the InstaShop marketplace. Placed orders are forwarded to the retailers, processed and delivered to the customer’s address by the retailer’s personnel.

Grocery service
InstaShop is specialized in online grocery shopping and operates as a platform that connects users to the large selection of supermarkets in the MENA region to order groceries online. The service is provided through a smartphone app, available on iOS and Android platforms, apart from its web store. Customers can choose their preferred supermarket from a list of stores that depends on the user’s location. As a next step the users choose the products to be bought and can pay by cash, credit card upon delivery of their goods or pay online.

Other services
2016 was the year that InstaShop started expanding to other verticals and provided the option for users to book an on demand house cleaning service ; through this service the customer can specify the number of cleaning personnel, time frame,if they need cleaning materials, and have the booking set just a couple of hours ahead. During the same year InstaShop expanded to have another secondary service, the delivery of organic products.

2019 was the year pharmacy, pet shop supplies and other services were also introduced to the InstaShop users.

Background
InstaShop was founded in 2015 by John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki, two Greek entrepreneurs. The company soft launched its grocery delivery service in 2015 serving only 1 area in Dubai, Dubai Marina.

By the end of 2015 InstaShop secured their first seed investment of $750,000, Jabbar Internet Group covered 50% of the total investment round, while the rest is covered by the startup fund VentureFriends. In 2016 the company announced another round of investment with SOUQ.COM, the amount of which is undisclosed. The company said it planned to use the funding to develop partnerships and scale to other countries.

In April 2017 InstaShop begun its country expansions towards Qatar, followed by Bahrain in 2016. In April 2018 the company expanded its service to Egypt, serving Cairo and Alexandria and in October 2018 it was launched in Beirut, Lebanon, teaming up with local retailers such as Yala Stop.

InstaShop has been acknowledged for its growth in the startup industry and its innovative nature by Forbes Middle East for 3 consecutive years, as one of the most promising startups in 2016, one of the top 100 startups in the Middle East in 2017 and once again as one of the top 100 startups in the Middle East in 2018. While in 2018 it was recognised in the MEA Markets Magazine’s annual MEA Excellence Awards with the title of Most Outstanding Grocery Shopping Platform of the Year