• Newest tech hub in Asia to scale up product innovation and platform optimization  
• Talent recruitment plan launched to grow digital talent pool in the region 
• Announcement comes as Delivery Hero reports strong growth in Asia

4 MAY 2021, SINGAPORE — foodpanda, Asia’s leading food and grocery delivery network, has announced the opening of a new tech hub in Taiwan. The newest tech hub is a part of foodpanda’s NT$610 million investment plans for its food delivery business in the market, which was first announced earlier this year. 

With a new tech hub in Taiwan, foodpanda will further strengthen and diversify its tech talent pool as it continues to expand and grow across Asia. foodpanda currently operates across 400 cities in 12 countries, with one of the largest food delivery footprint in the region.

Taiwan is among the leading technology centres in Asia with a highly tech-skilled workforce. According to INS Consulting, Taiwan sees more than 10,000 computer science graduates join the workforce each year [1] — making it an ideal centre for the launch of a new tech hub.

foodpanda’s Taiwan tech hub is slated to begin operations in the second half 2021, with a focus on R&D in new technologies and enhancements to build a seamless user experience across its mobile and web applications. foodpanda looks to provide a better delivery experience for millions of customers, riders and merchant-partners who are using the platform on a daily basis. 

The tech hub will house new engineering and product teams, and recruitment has begun for key department roles, including digital innovation supervisors and front- and back-end engineers.

“We are excited to launch our new tech hub in Taiwan, as an important base for data analysis and technology development in the food and grocery delivery space,” said Benjamin Mann, foodpanda’s Chief Technology Officer. “The Taiwan tech hub will offer an exciting opportunity for Taiwan-based tech and engineering talents to be a part of a leading, high-growth digital platform in Asia. We want to not only invest in the growing tech talent pool in Taiwan, but also invest in the tech capabilities to support foodpanda’s growth across the region”. 

The launch of foodpanda’s newest tech hub in the region comes as the delivery platform posted exponential 2020 growth last week, as more riders, merchant-partners and customers turn online for food and daily essentials. 

Strong growth in Asia spurs demand for tech investments 

Operating in over 400 cities across 12 markets in the region, foodpanda is Asia’s largest food delivery network outside of China. foodpanda is a subsidiary of leading global delivery network Delivery Hero SE. 

Delivery Hero reported strong growth in 2020 globally, with Asia leading in order growth. Asia posted the highest growth in orders across Delivery Hero’s global business, with orders tripling over the past year. Asia was the largest contributor to Delivery Hero’s Global GMV (gross merchandise value) in 2020, as GMV doubled versus 2019. With the integration of Woowa’s businesses in Korea and Vietnam, foodpanda and Delivery Hero Asia will be the largest player in Asia outside of China.

Delivery Hero expects growth to double in 2021. In Asia, more than half a billion orders were completed in the first quarter of 2021 alone, almost double the number in 2020. With the establishment of a new tech hub in the region, foodpanda plans to further build a digital ecosystem driven by big data and robust technological capabilities to expand its delivery capacity, bringing food delivery services closer to consumers across Asia.

Hi-res images can be downloaded here.

[1]  INS Global Consulting: Taiwan: A Top Destination for Tech Startups