(Bloomberg) -- Saudi delivery app Mrsool is pursuing an expansion that may include an initial public offering in the next two years, after a takeover approach from Delivery Hero SE failed to produce a deal. 

The e-commerce startup has fielded multiple acquisition offers from Germany’s Delivery Hero and held talks, but decided it wants to follow its own path, according to Ayman Alsanad, Mrsool’s chief executive officer who’s also its co-founder. 

“Delivery Hero has a vision that is different from our own,” he said in an interview in Cairo. 

Backed by STV, a venture fund financed by Saudi Telecom Co., Mrsool may list on the Saudi stock exchange -- although Nasdaq is a possibility for an international offering, Alsanad said.

With more than 100,000 delivery staff and 10 million customers in total, Mrsool plans to invest $300 million in the next five years as it increases its presence in Egypt and throughout the Gulf. “Mrsool has high aspirations for the region,” Alsanad said.

Berlin-based Delivery Hero declined to comment.

The Middle East’s fledgling startup scene is starting to pique the interest of global investors including SoftBank Group Corp. as consumers, confined to their homes during coronavirus lockdowns, got used to ordering more meals and groceries online. Saudi Arabia is meanwhile looking to encourage tech companies to raise money on its stock exchange’s smaller market and make it a regional hub for startups. 

InstaShop, Talabat

Delivery Hero last year already expanded its footprint in the Middle East by acquiring Dubai-based grocery delivery platform InstaShop. It also operates Talabat and Hungerstation across much of the region and owns Yemeksepeti in Turkey.

Delivery Hero Chief Executive Officer Niklas Oestberg said on Twitter this month that Hungerstation has been “delivering record after record” in Saudi Arabia. 

The German company has been looking to expand its quick-commerce business, which delivers small batches of household goods from pharmaceuticals to electronics, and last month invested in rapid grocery app Gorillas Technologies GmbH.

The industry has also gained traction in the Middle East over the past year. Quick-commerce services are set to reach $20 billion in market value by 2024 after almost doubling to $9 billion last year, technology researcher RedSeer Consulting predicts.

Established in 2015, Mrsool offers on-demand delivery services that recreate the bargaining dynamic of traditional markets for online orders. In Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, Mrsool is targeting 5 million customers versus the current 1.6 million, Alsanad said. 

Once ranked among the top 30 on Apple’s App Store in Saudi Arabia, several notches above Facebook and Uber, Mrsool has since slipped outside the 50 most popular downloads, according to the latest daily figures. 

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