Billion Dollar Unicorns: Careem Focused On MENA

The highest privately valued company Uber is the poster child of ride sharing. One of its strong, regional rivals is Dubai-based Careem, which has recently entered the Billion Dollar Unicorn Club.

Careem’s Offerings

Careem was founded in 2012 by former McKinsey consultants Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson. The service was initially set up as a web-based cab booking service for corporate car bookings. But as its users started using its service for personal rides, it transitioned into a consumer-facing cab booking service.

The company has expanded its geographic presence outside of Dubai as well. Today, it has over 250,000 drivers in 80 cities in 13 countries in the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) and Pakistan regions. It claims that 10 million people are signed up for its app. At the end of December 2016, it had 150,000 drivers transporting 6 million riders in 52 cities.

Careem’s Financials

Careem does not disclose its detailed financials. According to this Forbes article, it has indicated that its annual revenue is in the “hundreds of millions” of dollars. Careem claims to have broken even in Dubai and several cities in Saudi Arabia. It expects to achieve profitability by the year 2018 and is hoping to go public in that year.

Careem has been venture funded so far with $571.7 million raised from investors including Abraaj Group, Al Tayyar, Arzan Venture Capital, BECO Capital, Coatue Management, Daimler, El Sewedy Investments, Endure Capital, Kingdom Holding Company, Kuwait Investment Authority, Lumia Capital, Muna Easa Al Gurg, Rakuten, and Saudi Telecom Company. In June 2017, Careem raised $150 million, closing out a $500 million Series E funding round that values it at $1.2 billion.

Careem is filling up the need for better public transportation in the Arab world where car ownership is low: 2% in Pakistan, 5% in Egypt and 40% in Saudi Arabia. Another gap that it fills is the restrictions on women drivers in Saudi Arabia. hundreds of millions” of dollars.