The archive · Commerce & Marketplaces · Strategic decision · 2015–2025
Rappi: LatAm super-app bet pays off — profitable four quarters, weighs a 2026 IPO
Colombia's Rappi (2015) built delivery into a LatAm super-app, broke even, and now posts four straight profitable quarters while weighing a 2026 IPO.
Rappi
What the business is
Rappi is a Colombian on-demand delivery and services super-app: food, grocery and courier delivery, quick commerce (Turbo, under 10 minutes), fintech and travel, operating across nine Latin American countries and more than 350 cities.
Starting capital：More than US$2.2B raised from Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, Andreessen Horowitz and SoftBank Group (Bloomberg Línea); a US$100M debt round from Kirkoswald Private Credit and Santander in August 2025, and a US$25M convertible note from Amazon in September 2025 with warrants for up to 12% of the company (LatamList).
How it started
Rappi was founded in Colombia in 2015 by Simón Borrero together with Sebastián Mejía and Felipe Villamarín, and scaled an on-demand delivery app across Latin America: by 2024 it claimed 30M+ users in nine countries and more than 250 cities, and TIME's 2024 list of the world's 100 most influential companies found it fresh off its first break-even year.
What happened
Rappi raised more than US$2.2B from investors including Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, Andreessen Horowitz and SoftBank Group, and kept widening the offer: Turbo quick commerce (under-10-minute deliveries growing more than 100% a year in most markets), fintech — RappiCard launched in Mexico with Banorte in January 2021 — and travel. For years the doubters said the subsidized model could never work and the company would fail; in September 2024 Borrero told the press an IPO was being prepared within a year, and by 2025 he framed any listing as a question of market windows.
How it ended up
Bloomberg Línea reported in May 2025 that Rappi had been profitable for four consecutive quarters with positive EBITDA, reinvests 100% of its profits, needs no new private capital, and could find conditions for a 2026 listing. In April 2025 it sold the RappiCard Mexico operation to Banorte for US$50M while keeping a 15-year commercial partnership that still pays it commissions; it added US$100M of debt in August 2025 and an Amazon convertible note with warrants for up to 12% in September 2025, and said it was considering three more markets, probably in Latin America, not the US or Europe.
Background
Rappi's bet was that Latin America would consolidate on one on-demand super-app. Founded in Colombia in 2015 by Simón Borrero, Sebastián Mejía and Felipe Villamarín, it scaled food and grocery delivery, couriers, quick commerce, fintech and travel across the region, raising more than US$2.2B from Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, Andreessen Horowitz and SoftBank Group along the way.
For most of that decade the numbers looked like a money pit — doubters said the model was impossible and the company would fail, and a September 2024 plan to IPO within a year slipped as US tech listings closed. The turn came from operating depth: Turbo's under-10-minute deliveries grew more than 100% a year in most markets, and fintech products such as RappiCard (built with Mexico's Banorte from January 2021) added recurring economics on top of the delivery base.
By May 2025 Borrero said Rappi had been profitable for four consecutive quarters with positive EBITDA and reinvests 100% of profits, with no new private capital needed and a possible listing toward the end of 2026 if windows reopen. In 2025 it sold RappiCard Mexico to Banorte for US$50M while keeping a 15-year commercial partnership, took US$100M in debt, and welcomed Amazon through a US$25M convertible note with warrants for up to 12%.
What has to be true
- Region-first scope: instead of entering the US or Europe, Rappi concentrated on Latin America — nine countries and 350+ cities by 2025 — building density without fighting global giants at home.
- Revenue layers on one platform: food delivery, Turbo quick commerce and fintech raised frequency and take per user until the economics flipped positive.
- Profitability as a capital strategy: four profitable quarters let Rappi reject dilutive private rounds, sell capital-heavy RappiCard while keeping commissions, and wait for an IPO window.
- Strategic patience with bridges: the US$100M debt round and the Amazon convertible covered the wait for public markets without giving up control.
What can be applied
In LatAm delivery, density beats burn: one super-app per region compounds food, quick commerce and fintech into profit — the winner reinvests and picks its IPO window.
Aftermath
As of September 2025 Rappi remained private and profitable: four consecutive profitable quarters reported in May 2025, 100% of profit reinvested, more than 350 cities served, and a possible listing when market conditions allow — Borrero pointed to around the end of 2026. It was weighing three more Latin American markets, ruled out the US and Europe, and watched US tech listings as the trigger for going public. The risks in coverage: the IPO window stayed shut through 2025, the strategy remains tied to LatAm economies, and the reinvest-everything stance delays any return to investors.
Sources
- Rappi reinveste 100% do lucro para crescer mais e avalia IPO em 2026, diz CEO
- Amazon acquires stake in Rappi
- Nubank and Rappi featured in TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies of 2024
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