Even as a cohort of the brightest startup founders in Morocco were being shuttled between Rabat and Barcelona for an exclusive mentorship program, the image of their benefactor, delivery giant Glovo, was beginning to fracture. While innovators from last-mile delivery service VelyVelo to fintech Paylik pitched to investors in Spain courtesy of the Glovo “Startup Lab,” a starkly different story was unfolding back home. Beneath the surface of this carefully crafted role as a champion for the local tech ecosystem, tensions had simmered and finally boiled over, pulling the Spanish powerhouse into a formal regulatory confrontation that now pits it against the very market it claims to be nurturing.
On May 28, Morocco’s Competition Council again issued a notification of grievances alleging that GlovoApp Morocco — the local unit of the Spanish-founded delivery firm — may have violated national competition laws. The allegations include abuse of market dominance, exploitation of economic dependence, and potentially predatory pricing.
Though the Council’s press release did not name Glovo directly, the company swiftly confirmed it was the target of the investigation. The move follows a months-long probe that included an unannounced raid on Glovo’s Casablanca offices in October 2024, conducted with the support of the National Brigade of the Judicial Police and sanctioned by the Public Prosecutor.
A Rising Star Under Scrutiny
Glovo, a subsidiary of Germany’s Delivery Hero, has invested over 200 million dirhams (€18.5m) in Morocco since its 2018 launch. With operations in 38 cities and a broad network of courier partners and local startups, the company has become a key player in Morocco’s digital infrastructure. Its role in mentoring startups through its “Startup Lab” — in collaboration with 212 Founders, Technopark, and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University — positioned it as a facilitator of Morocco’s tech renaissance.
But that narrative is now being tested.
The current investigation stems from a formal complaint reportedly filed by Kooul, a local delivery platform and subsidiary of Moroccan superapp developer ORA Technologies. Kooul has accused Glovo of leveraging its dominant position to undercut competition and bind restaurant partners with coercive contract terms, practices that would violate Moroccan competition law (notably Article 7 of Law №104–12).
This marks a critical juncture for Glovo in North Africa. The Competition Council has now entered the “adversarial phase” of the process, during which Glovo will be given the opportunity to present its full response before any sanctions are imposed.
In a written statement, Glovo said it is cooperating fully with regulators and reaffirmed its commitment to transparent and fair business practices. The company emphasized its contributions to local employment and the digital economy, and insisted it welcomes constructive oversight.
For Kooul, the complaint could be a pivotal moment. Owned by ORA Technologies — a rising Moroccan startup that recently raised $1.9m in a pre-Series A round — Kooul is part of a broader strategy to offer homegrown alternatives to foreign platforms.
Founded in 2023 by entrepreneur Omar Alami, ORA Technologies has quickly gained traction with its all-in-one mobile app combining e-commerce, digital wallets, service marketplaces, and peer-to-peer payments. Its flagship financial product, ORA Cash, enables digital payments via QR codes, in multiple languages including Darija, to bridge Morocco’s financial inclusion gap.
The firm’s ambition to scale nationally, particularly via KooulMaroc, puts it in direct competition with Glovo — albeit from a far smaller capital base. Still, the increasing support of domestic investors like Witamax and Azur Innovation Fund, and strategic partnerships with institutions such as Banque Centrale Populaire, suggest that ORA’s challenge may carry more weight than it once might have.
Partners or Pawns?
Ironically, Glovo’s recent posture as a builder of Morocco’s startup ecosystem has brought it into close collaboration with many of the very startups that rely on it to scale. The company has formed alliances with a number of local innovators:
- Vantage Payment Systems helps power Glovo’s digital payments, processing credit card transactions with a 56% penetration rate on the platform.
- Konta, a Casablanca-based startup, manages Glovo’s supplier expense workflows for its Glovo Market virtual supermarkets.
- Digishare centralizes Glovo’s WhatsApp-based communications with over 6,500 partners.
- Ecopara helps integrate pharmacies into the platform, bridging parapharma retail and online delivery.
- VelyVelo, known in Paris for sustainable last-mile transport, now supplies Glovo couriers with electric bikes in Casablanca.
- Cathédis, a Moroccan logistics firm, ensures inter-city delivery reach in 38 urban centres.
These partnerships paint a picture of a company deeply embedded in — and dependent on — local innovation. Yet they also raise difficult questions about power dynamics: how much negotiating room do these startups actually have with a dominant distribution partner like Glovo?
Several restaurateurs have privately complained about take-it-or-leave-it contracts and commission structures that, once accepted, are hard to escape. In Morocco’s still-maturing digital economy, where one platform can account for up to 80% of a restaurant’s online sales, dependence on Glovo can quickly become a structural liability.
The Sovereignty Dilemma
This dual identity — startup enabler and market hegemon —underlines the tension now facing regulators. If the Competition Council rules against Glovo, it could mark a significant milestone in the evolution of Morocco’s antitrust enforcement. The country’s competition law, largely modeled after EU standards, is designed to promote healthy market conduct. But until recently, enforcement has been cautious and often reactive.
A decisive move against a high-profile foreign player could set a precedent for digital governance in North Africa, but it also risks spooking foreign investors at a time when Morocco is trying to position itself as a regional tech hub.
For ORA Technologies, meanwhile, the case may become a symbolic test of Morocco’s ability to protect its own innovators in the face of global competition. The company now counts more than 300,000 app downloads and is expanding ORA Cash to serve underbanked populations through partnerships with over 5,000 physical agencies.
Whether Glovo is found guilty or not, the episode suggests a larger inflection point in how emerging markets are beginning to assert control over fast-scaling tech platforms. The days of unregulated “move fast and break things” disruption — pioneered in Silicon Valley and exported globally — may be ending in Morocco.
The Competition Council’s deliberations are expected to conclude later this year. If violations are confirmed, Glovo could face fines, restrictions on its business activities, or in the worst case, reputational damage that undermines its broader African strategy.
For now, one thing is clear: Morocco’s regulators are no longer content with simply playing host to tech disruption. They want a hand in writing the rules — and companies, no matter how entrenched or innovative, will have to play by them.