Careem, an Uber-owned ride-hailing service, announced a spinoff on Monday with significant funding from a new source as well as its parent firm.
With a $400 million investment, Abu Dhabi-based tech holding firm e&, previously Etisalat, inked a binding deal with Uber Technologies to acquire a 50.03% majority ownership in the spinout, which will be called Careem Technologies.
Uber still completely owns Careem’s ride-hailing company, which it purchased for $3.1 billion in 2019. The size of Uber’s investment in the spinoff is still unknown.
Careem Technologies will focus on growing the company’s “super app,” which offers a lot of different services in addition to calling a taxi. Careem Quick grocery delivery in 15 minutes or less, restaurant delivery, PCR test booking, digital payments and remittance transfers, bicycle rentals, laundry and cleaning services, and event ticket booking are just a few of the services available.
“e& is investing $400 million to become a majority stakeholder in Careem’s Super App with Uber and all three Careem co-founders,” e& said in a statement.The investment would help Careem achieve its objective of becoming “the first ‘everything app’ for users in the Middle East,” according to the company.
Careem, situated in Dubai, “expects strong synergies with e& and anticipates benefiting from e&’s client base,” as well as its expertise expanding digital firms over a geographic region shared by both companies.
According to its website, Careem works in over 80 locations across ten countries. Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and CEO, founded the business in 2012 in Dubai, and it has grown from a Dubai-based ride-sharing enterprise to a “Super App” platform utilised throughout the Middle East, from Morocco to Pakistan.
