Mission: Simplify the lives of people

Like many other successful ideas, the concept of Careeem, the region's leading app-based car service, also came out of personal need.
Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson were management consultants with McKinsey & Company in the UAE, and were constantly travelling. While they had great experiences with airlines and hotels, they realised transportation in the region was often unreliable and inconvenient.
With a rich background of technology, Sheikha and Olsson joined hands with another tech wizard, Dr Abdulla Elyas, and decided to utilise their expertise in technology for a solution.
"It started as a basic Web-based car booking service focused on corporate customers, and has evolved into the largest digital transportation platform in the region," said Sheikha, who is co-founder and managing director of Careem.
Careem is now considered the region's leading app-based car service that makes ordering chauffeur-driven cars reliable, safe, convenient and affordable. Its customers can book a car on the Careem app and website, or by calling its call centre.
"Our mission is to simplify people's lives and build an institution that will bring lasting change to the region. We believe there is a significant opportunity to use technology to simplify lives and build success stories that will inspire entrepreneurship and transform the region. We hope to play a small part in it," he said.
Sheikha said Careem's strategy is simple: "be local" and focused on understanding the needs of customers in the region and providing solutions in the best possible way.
"When our customers wanted to pre-schedule their airport and commute rides, we launched scheduled rides. When they expressed the need to speak to a person on the phone, we launched our 24/7 call centre. When many customers in Saudi Arabia and Egypt requested the option to pay in cash, we launched cash payments. When many parents in the UAE asked for baby seats for the safety of their kids, we launched Careem Kids with pre-fitted car seats," said the tech start-up.
"We are local and we care about the region. Remaining local and prioritising the needs of customers in the region has been a winning strategy, and we believe will remain our competitive advantage in the future," he said.
Established in July 2012, Careem operates across 27 cities in the Middle East and North Africa region: Abu Dhabi, Alexandria, Al Ahsa, Al Khubar, Al Qasseem, Al Madina, Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Dharah, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Jubail, Karachi, Kuwait, Lahore, Makkah, Manama, North Coast of Egypt, Rabat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah.
"This four-year journey has exceeded our expectations. We are bigger and stronger than what we thought we would be by now," he said. Sheikha said Careem worked closely with local governments and regulators, and was the first ones to acquire dispatch licences in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and is in talks with other regulators to provide a reliable and affordable means of transport to the people of our region.
Careem is planning to consolidate its presence in the region by expanding in more cities and adding more services.
"We recently announced a partnership to bring self-driving public transport pods to the region and made a $100 million commitment to invest in transportation research and development for the region.
Sheikha said Careem is heading in the right direction and will add more value to its business as e-commerce gains momentum.
"Careem is part of the emerging e-commerce industry in the region. As adoption of e-commerce grows and more people get comfortable with ordering goods and services online, we will all benefit from it. The key is to create experiences that solve a real need and delight customers so that they keep coming back, and bring their family and friends, too. Technology has the potential to bring convenience and efficiency in commerce but needs to be deployed the right way," he said. "As for Careem, we are satisfied with our direction and contribution to the e-commerce industry."
Since its inception in 2012, Careem has grown from five colleagues, four cars and three phones to more than 600 employees, four million registered passengers, and over 80,000 hard-working drivers called "captains".
"We have seen a steady growth of 30 per cent month-on-month," he said.
Sheikha said Careem was working on a few ideas during the summer that would roll out in the next few weeks as people return from their summer breaks.
"One of the recent ones was a partnership with etisalat that allows our customers to pay for Careem rides with their etisalat points. A few more such improvements are in the pipeline."
Careem raised $72 million from the region, last tranche of which was raised a few months ago.

"Our investors some of the deepest-pocketed institutions in the region, including Saudi Telecom, Al Tayyar Travel Group, Abraaj Capital, Beco Capital, Wamda Capital, Impulse [a subsidiary of the Kuwait Investment Authority] and others. While we are adequately funded right now, we are always open to discussions with potential strategic investors," Mudassir concluded.
- riaz@khaleejtimes.com