Deliveroo has struck a deal to turn its delivery vehicles into advertising inventory, providing a potentially valuable new revenue stream during a period of uncertainty for the UK economy.
Sky News understands that Deliveroo will next week announce the launch of an out-of-home advertising platform in the form of digital HD screens fitted to a new fleet of electric scooters.
The London-listed takeaway food service has signed an agreement with Ad-MOTO, an advertising technology start-up, to provide commercial messages on 200 e-scooters in central London.
Launching this month, the displays are capable of showing six adverts per minute, and the partnership will initially run for a four month pilot period.
The alliance will be announced just over two years after Deliveroo went public in London in what was dubbed at the time the worst IPO in the City’s history.
The shares floated at 390p, traded down more than a quarter on their opening day, and on Friday were trading at 109.5p.
It now has a market value of £1.93bn.
Devesh Mishra, Deliveroo’s chief product and technology officer, said: “With London being one of the busiest and most exciting culinary cities in the world, our advertising partners are always on the lookout for new and creative ways to showcase their products to our customers, both in-app and off-platform.
“The partnership with Ad-MOTO also creates exciting opportunities for our riders to boost their earning potential, increase the number of environmentally friendly e-bikes and e-scooters in our network and strengthens our advertising revenue stream.”
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Since its flotation, Deliveroo has diversified into grocery delivery, signing deals with supermarket chains such as Asda and J Sainsbury.
The launch of advertising platforms such as the partnership with is expected to be an important part of its path towards profitability and free cashflow generation, according to the company.
It launched its advertising platform, Deliveroo Media and Ecommerce, in 2022, allowing brands to advertise to its customers by providing offers across its app and on the company’s website, and from its network of delivery-only ‘Editions’ kitchens and rapid grocery delivery HOP stores.
Paul Vickery, chief executive of Ad-MOTO, said: “Working with a forward thinking, rider-first company that helps the delivery marketplace ecosystem is very important to us and our values as a business.
“We are at the start of a mission to offer innovative advertising solutions in formerly hard to reach, high footfall areas of major cities whilst also making the streets safer, greener and quieter.”
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