As Glovo celebrated seven years in Romania this summer, the country has become one of the company’s top three markets worldwide and a benchmark for quick commerce in the region. Business Review sat down with Oscar Pierre, CEO and Co-founder of Glovo, to discuss how the platform evolved from food delivery to an all-in-one convenience ecosystem, the rapid shift in Romanian consumer behavior, and what’s next for the company’s journey of digital innovation and local empowerment.
Glovo is celebrating 7 years in Romania, a key market for the company. How would you describe Glovo’s journey over this time, and what does Romania represent for the group today?
Glovo’s journey in Romania has been nothing short of remarkable. We launched here in 2018, and today, Romania stands as one of our most important markets globally – ranking in top 3 out of the 23 countries where we operate. This speaks volumes about the strong adoption of our platform and the dynamism of the local economy.
In just seven years, we’ve expanded our footprint to more than 60 cities, covering all major urban areas across the 41 counties. We currently work with over 10,000 partners, the majority of which are small and medium-sized enterprises. For us, this is a key achievement because empowering SMEs and supporting local businesses is at the core of our strategy.
Moreover, Romania represents more than just a growth market – it’s a hub for the region. From Bucharest, where we have a team of over 100 talented employees, we manage operations that extend beyond the country’s borders. Every time I visit, I see how quickly Romania is advancing, with digitalization accelerating at an impressive pace. This creates tremendous opportunities for both innovation and inclusive economic growth.
We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but even more excited about what lies ahead.
Over the past 7 years, you’ve witnessed significant changes in Romanian consumer behavior. What are the most surprising or relevant transformations you’ve observed?
Indeed, we’ve seen Romanian consumers evolve rapidly. Initially, our platform was primarily about food delivery, but today the demand landscape looks completely different.
On the food side, there’s a clear shift toward diversity and quality. Traditional categories such as burgers, for example, remain extremely strong – in fact, Romania leads the Southeast Europe region for burger orders. But alongside that, we’ve seen new culinary trends emerge. For example, poke bowls have surged in popularity and healthy eating is no longer a niche. The number of healthy dishes ordered has increased by over 400% in 2024 versus the previous year and continues to show strong growth of over 200% in 2025.
However, the most significant transformation goes beyond food. During the pandemic, we saw an acceleration in grocery delivery, and this category has continued to grow strongly ever since. Today, Glovo users don’t just expect to order meals – they want everything, from fresh produce to household essentials, delivered in minutes. This mindset has fuelled q-commerce, which is now one of the fastest-growing segments of our business in Romania. Categories like pet care and specialty shops have also gained traction, reflecting consumers’ preference for convenience and variety.
Glovo has become a leader in the multi-category delivery segment in Romania. What do you believe made the difference in such a competitive ecosystem?
What truly made the difference is our ability to anticipate and lead the shift in consumer behavior. We’ve moved beyond being just a food delivery platform and we’ve set a new standard for convenience. Today, consumers expect more than speed, they expect access to everything they need, from groceries and health products to flowers, books, and even tech, all within minutes.
For users, our value lies in simplicity, reliability, and a seamless experience. For retailers, Glovo has become a fast and efficient way to deliver products and grow, and we’re building the foundation for how e-commerce will work in the future. For us, this means Q-Commerce, which is the third generation of commerce after traditional retail and e-commerce. Q-comm is built on three pillars: a seamless experience with easy access to city stores via smartphone, a wide assortment from major grocery chains to specialty shops, and fast delivery, within an hour instead of 24 hours or more.
Our goal is to be the primary on-demand marketplace for retailers of all sizes, offering variety, competitive pricing that reflects in-store promotions, and a shopping experience that mirrors the precision and quality of being in-store.
Romania is now the most developed Q-commerce market in the region and ranked #2 globally for supermarket orders in 2024, after Spain. Supermarket orders grew by 40% compared to the previous year, with essentials like water, bread, and dairy leading the list. Other categories, such as parapharmacy, flowers, books, toys, sporting goods, and home décor, have also seen growth – some even doubling year-on-year. These results confirm that Q-commerce is no longer an emerging trend.
Romania is now one of Glovo’s most developed markets, with a presence in over 60 cities. What are your plans for further development? Are there any upcoming services or market expansions on the horizon?
Our focus will be on consolidating what we’ve built while continuing to innovate and invest in the local ecosystem. First, we will keep strengthening partnerships with both our merchant partners and courier community. For us, growth has to be sustainable, and that means providing better tools for partners to thrive, creating opportunities for couriers, and delivering an even faster, more reliable experience for users.
Supporting SMEs is another top priority. Through programs like Glovo Local, we aim to accelerate the digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses, helping them adapt to an increasingly on-demand economy. At the same time, we’re investing in innovation bringing new features in our app, designed to enhance the user experience.
Nonetheless, we’re committed to talent and technology and through programs like Tech Catalyst, our competition designed to support the development of digital solutions for smarter cities, we want to nurture local innovation and empower the next generation of tech leaders.
Glovo Next marks a major transformation of the app. How did the idea of integrating social features come about, and what kind of impact do you expect this to have on user engagement and interaction?
The idea came from observing how people interact with food and discovery. Ordering food isn’t just a transaction, it’s an experience, and it’s often social by nature. People love sharing recommendations, discovering new places, and connecting over their favourite meals. We wanted to bring that behaviour into the app in a way that feels natural and engaging.
With Glovo Next, we’ve introduced social media-inspired features that make the platform more interactive. Users can now explore and share their favourite restaurants and dishes, create personalized lists through the new ‘Picks’ or ‘Collections’ feature. This transforms Glovo from being purely a utility app into a space where people can connect, interact, and find inspiration for their next meal. For restaurants, this creates new ways to connect with customers and showcase their menus in a more engaging way, which we believe will bring added value over time.
Recent data shows strong growth in healthy food, beauty, supermarket, and pet product categories. How is Glovo adapting its offering and partnerships to these evolving trends?
Consumer preferences are becoming more diverse, and we’re adapting quickly to meet that demand. As I mentioned, healthy food is a great example, and beyond food, q-commerce continues to expand strongly with groceries, beauty, parapharmacy, and pet product segments experiencing high increases in sales.
Our strategy is to strengthen partnerships across these fast-growing categories, from major retailers to specialized local businesses, ensuring that customers can access more of what they need in one place.
You recently launched the Yellow fund to support early-stage startups in Southern Europe. What types of entrepreneurs or ideas are you most drawn to, and how does this initiative connect to your mission at Glovo?
Through Yellow VC, our goal is to support ambitious founders at the very earliest stages, when ideas are taking shape and founders need both capital and guidance. The fund focuses on Southern Europe, a region full of talent and potential but historically underserved in terms of access to funding.
We’re not tied to a specific vertical; we look at both B2B and B2C opportunities where technology can make a real impact. What matters most is the strength of the team and their ability to execute.
Beyond investment, what sets Yellow apart is the experience we bring as founders. When we built Glovo, we faced many of the same challenges these startups encounter today – going from 0 to 1, scaling teams, navigating regulations. Our mission with Yellow is aligned with Glovo’s values: leveraging technology and entrepreneurship to create impact and build a stronger innovation ecosystem in the region.
If you could offer just one piece of advice to a Romanian entrepreneur dreaming of building a global-impact product, what would it be?
My advice would be to take full responsibility for driving progress every single day. Set high standards for yourself and your team, and never settle for “good enough.” When you review work, always look for ways to improve it. This mindset builds a culture of constant growth. Be transparent, speak honestly, and bring energy to every interaction. Momentum doesn’t sustain itself, you have to actively create it.
Looking back at your journey, from studying aerospace engineering and founding early social impact platforms, to launching Glovo and being named one of Europe’s most influential young leaders, what moments have shaped you the most as an entrepreneur? And how does your current role as a business angel complement your work at Glovo?
Looking back, every stage of my journey has shaped how I lead today. My early projects, especially those with a social impact angle, taught me that technology is most powerful when it solves real problems for people. Building Glovo from scratch was the most transformative chapter. It forced me to develop resilience, make quick decisions in uncertain environments, and surround myself with talented people who could push the company forward.
Those lessons are exactly what I bring into my work as a business angel. I know how tough the first steps can be: the uncertainty, the pressure to move fast, and the need to build the right team from day one. That’s why I try to support founders not just with capital, but with practical guidance and connections. In many ways, it’s the same mission as at Glovo: to back ambitious teams, accelerate innovation, and create products that have a meaningful impact on how people live.
Finally, as Glovo continues to grow and evolve, what is your long-term vision, for the company, for the delivery and quick commerce industry, and for your own role as a tech leader in Europe?
This year also marks 10 years since Glovo started in Spain. In this time, what began as a small local startup has grown into a leading tech platform in Southern Europe, while globally processing over 1 billion orders since 2015 and operating in 23 markets and 1,800 cities.
Looking ahead, our priority is to make everyday shopping faster, easier, and more convenient, giving users quick access to a wide variety of products from their favourite restaurants, supermarkets, and retail stores. Quick commerce will continue to grow as part of this strategy, alongside our efforts to expand assortment and improve the overall experience. Another key focus is empowering local businesses, since over 90% of our global 150,000 partners are SMEs. That’s why we created initiatives such as Glovo Local, which provides digital and operational solutions to help small retailers and restaurants digitalize and grow, Glovo Academy, our in-person training to help restaurants thrive in the digital economy, as well as the Impact Fund, where a share of revenue from every order is dedicated to sustainability and social impact projects. Through these initiatives, we continue to support digitalization, sustainability, and positive impact in the communities we serve.