The international ridesharing service inDrive, founded by Arsen Tomsky, has invested in the Kazakhstani grocery and meal delivery service Ryadom (meaning “nearby” in English). The deal was executed through the company’s venture arm, New Ventures, according to a statement from the enterprise’s press office.
Ryadom was founded in 2020 by Kuanysh Ablayev and Daniyar Toyembayev within the Choco Holding ecosystem established by Ramil Mukhoryapov. The meal delivery service operates 19 warehouses in Almaty and Astana, covering 300 square meters each. One facility serves the nearest district within a 1.2-kilometer radius.
According to the company, Ryadom delivers 83% of its orders within 15 minutes upon payment. The enterprise also guarantees a refund option if customers are not satisfied with the food quality. The service is available as part of the Choco super-app ecosystem.
Ryadom plans to allocate raised funds for developing its own trademarks, producing ready meals and scaling operations across new regions. The investment amount has not been disclosed, though.
In 2023, Freedom Holding Corp. acquired the Chocotravel and Aviata travel services for $32 million from the Choco holding. The Choco ecosystem also includes Chocolife.me, an e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering discounts for various activities, goods and services; Chocofood, a restaurant meal delivery service; Choco Smart Restaurant, an automation software solution and iDoctor, a platform for finding doctors.
Arsen Tomsky, who obtained Kazakhstani citizenship in late December 2023, ranked 10th on Forbes’ list of the richest people in Kazakhstan with an estimated fortune of $920 million.
The inDrive (formerly inDriver) taxi service was founded in Yakutia, Russia. In 2022, the company ceased operations in Russia, relocating all its employees abroad, primarily to Kazakhstan.
