Careem attracts $400-mn investment from e&

e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group) is investing $400 million in the Careem Super App. The investment will support further expansion of Careem’s Super App which already offers services including food and grocery delivery, micro-mobility, a digital wallet and suite of fintech services, and additional third-party services such as home cleaning, car rental and laundry. Currently Careem serves customers in 10 countries across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

In 2022 in the UAE alone Careem’s grocery delivery service Quik grew 46X and food orders grew by 86%. Over the course of the year Careem Pay launched as a fintech platform in the UAE with a digital wallet and payments products including bill payments, international remittances, domestic peer-to-peer payments and one-click checkout. Careem Bike doubled its network of pedal assist bikes and grew by 61%. Careem launched its subscription service Careem Plus, saw its first partner service (home cleaning) grow 4.9x while it also onboarded new third-party partners offering rental cars, spa and laundry services.

With this new investment, Careem plans to accelerate its ambition 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 programme across the region while adding even more partner services to the app. While e& will leverage the Careem Super App to boost the growth of its consumer digital services.

Meanwhile, Uber will retain its 100% ownership of the Careem ride-hailing business which it acquired in 2020 and will be a significant shareholder of the Careem Super App business. e& will become a majority shareholder in Careem’s Super App alongside Uber and all three of Careem’s co-founders.

As of now, completion of the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals, customary closing conditions and administrative procedures.

RetailME Bureau