IFOOD

Patrick Sigrist and his co-founders launched iFood in 2011 as an online food ordering platform in São Paulo. Brazil's food delivery market was fragmented — restaurants had their own phone lines, no unified platform existed, and credit card penetration was low.

iFood solved all three: a single app, multiple payment options (including cash on delivery, crucial in Brazil), and a delivery fleet. The pivotal moment came when Movile — a Brazilian mobile platform company backed by Naspers/Prosus — acquired a controlling stake and invested heavily in growth.

Food delivery marketplace connecting restaurants with consumers. The standard model: consumers order through the app, restaurants prepare food, and delivery riders bring it to the door.

Revenue comes from restaurant commissions (typically 15-30% of order value), delivery fees charged to consumers, and advertising from restaurants wanting premium placement. iFood also operates cloud kitchens and a grocery delivery service.

iFood Delivery (restaurant food delivery), iFood Mercado (grocery delivery), iFood Benefícios (corporate meal vouchers), iFood Wallet (payments and cashback), and cloud kitchens (company-operated delivery-only kitchens). The corporate meal voucher product is particularly clever — it captures the enormous Brazilian meal benefits market.

Vertical integration and market dominance. iFood controls approximately 80% of Brazil's food delivery market — a monopoly-level position in a country of 215 million people.

The strategy: outspend competitors on rider subsidies and restaurant acquisition until they quit (Uber Eats exited Brazil in 2022), then gradually improve unit economics as the dominant player. Expansion into grocery delivery, payments (iFood Wallet), and fintech services for restaurants deepens the moat.

Competition from Uber Eats, Rappi, and 99Food in a price-sensitive market. Brazilian consumers are notoriously promotion-driven — they'll switch apps for a R$5 discount.

Delivery rider welfare and labor regulations have also become politically charged, with proposals to classify riders as employees (which would dramatically increase costs). The macroeconomic volatility of Brazil (inflation, currency swings) adds another layer of unpredictability.

Movile (parent company), Prosus/Naspers, and SoftBank Latin America Fund are the primary backers. iFood operates as a subsidiary of Movile, which is majority-owned by Prosus.