In just three years, Ninja has grown from a small startup to a regional quick commerce market leader worth over $1,5 billion.
Saudi Arabia-based quick commerce startup Ninja has set a record by achieving a tech unicorn status in three years since its inception. With the latest $250 million funding round led by Riyad Capital, the company that delivers groceries and daily essentials across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait, reached a $1.5B valuation.
Founded in 2022 by Saud Al Qahtani and Canberk Donmez, Riyadh-based Ninja is promoting the standards of ultra-fast delivery across the Gulf region. The startup specializes in delivering groceries, daily essentials, and a growing range of consumer products like pet food, supplements, pharmacy products, cosmetics, perfumes etc. Those items arrive at the customer’s doorstep in less than half an hour.
Most recently, the quick commerce platform added telemedicine and e-prescriptions to its offering. The move into integrated, on-demand healthcare services helped Ninja further differentiate itself in the competitive quick commerce market.
Besides an exceptional rise in valuation, Ninja’s case is notable for the MENA fintech scene, as the startup has already become profitable in its core operations and is on track to exceed $1 billion in revenue by the end of 2025, a rare achievement for a company at such an early stage.
The company operates through a network of over 100 “dark” stores (non-public micro-fulfillment centers) in 28 cities, which enable efficient last-mile logistics. Strategically located dark stores are integrated with predictive AI systems to streamline inventory management and order fulfillment. AI-driven automation helps manage inventory control, sorting, and packing processes within fulfillment centers, significantly increasing speed and reducing errors. Besides, AI-supported fleet management allows Ninja to efficiently allocate delivery personnel and vehicles based on demand forecasts and route optimization, maximizing resource use.
Despite the popularity of cash-on-delivery in e-commerce and food delivery in the served markets, Ninja requires customers to pay online at the time of placing their order, streamlining its cash flows and boosting liquidity. Besides support of common payment methods in Saudi Arabia, such as credit/debit card payments and digital wallets, the startup allows flexible purchases with BNPL services like Tabby. The instalment payments are integrated into Ninja’s checkout process to enhance customer flexibility, ensuring a seamless, cashless transaction experience.
Fueled by recent major funding rounds, Ninja has ambitious plans to scale operations across existing markets and expand to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and MENA countries. The startup is also preparing for a public listing on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) by 2027.
