Careem, the Middle East-based ride-hailing company that Uber bought in 2019, has secured a $400 million investment from the Emirates telecom group to launch Careem Super App.
UAE’s Tech group e&, formerly Etisalat, based in Abu Dhabi, signed a binding agreement with Uber Technologies to acquire a 50.03% majority stake in Careem’s Super App spinout.
Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO of e& said that super Aapps have catalyzed the economic, social and cultural growth of emerging markets today. “The Careem Super App is a digital native that has built a rapidly growing payments, food, and grocery delivery network, and a platform for other digital businesses to scale from. The shared vision between e& and Careem is exciting, we believe that together we’ll be able to enhance our impact across different markets in the region.”
Careem Super App
Founded in 2012, Careem started as a ride-hailing app. It launched its super app in April 2020, which currently offers over a dozen services including food and grocery delivery, a digital wallet, and a range of fintech services. Careem serves customers in 10 countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.
Following the deal, Careem will split into two companies, Careem Rides and Careem Technologies.
The ride-hailing business will remain fully owned by Uber under Careem Rides and will be staffed by 260 people.
Careem Super App will be operated under Careem Technologies and will be owned jointly by e&, Uber, the Careem co-founders which include Sheikha and Magnus Olsson. This company will be led by Sheikha and will have about 1,400 employees.
Sheikha said that the new funding will be utilized “to scale the Super App and build category-leading verticals in all our key markets.”
With this new investment, Careem plans to accelerate its ambitions to create the first “everything app” serving customers across the Middle East. This will include expanding its core food, grocery, and fintech services and the Careem Plus subscription program across the region while adding even more partner services to the app.