Careem, a locally founded app-based car service in Mena, has announced an investment of $60 million with Dubai-based Abraaj Group, which will be used to accelerate market expansion in its core markets in Mena and South Asia.

It marks the third round of fundraising by Careem and sees Abraaj join other leading investors including Al Tayyar, STC Ventures, Beco Capital, Impulse (a subsidiary of Kuwait Investment Authority), Lumia Capital and Wamda Capital. Al Tayyar remains the largest institutional investor in Careem.

Founded in Dubai in 2012, Careem currently operates in 20 cities from Morocco to Pakistan. In the last three years, the company has witnessed strong growth month on month of over 30 per cent across its core markets of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Careem will use the funding from Abraaj to invest in further growth, introducing key new hires, accelerating its pace of entry into new markets, and developing innovative new products and services, the statement said.

Abraaj’s Series C investment in Careem through its Funds builds on its thesis of investing in enterprises that cater to rising levels of urban demand in global growth markets and recognises the relevance of technology-led, “sharing economy” businesses with strong management and growth trajectories.

Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, partner at The Abraaj Group, said: “The transport industry is witnessing a positive disruptive revolution from the use of technology. The headroom for growth in the ride-share and taxi-app industry continues to be substantial and is proving out globally – and with our markets being no exception.”

“We strongly believe that the combination of Careem and its management team with Abraaj’s track record of supporting regional champions will drive scale, efficiency, and produce significant public policy benefits. We intend to equip this business fully to rise to the challenge – and take leadership of this segment,” he added.

Mudassir Sheikha, Careem’s co-founder and managing director, said: “As we successfully close our third round of funding, we welcome our new investors and partners into Careem. The Abraaj Group brings unique regional insights, proven execution capability, and global resources we consider critical to realizing our mission of simplifying the lives of people in the region.

“We will continue to innovate our product, expand through the region, bring greater income generating opportunities to even more of our Captains, and recruit outstanding talent to serve a growing customer base across our cities.” – TradeArabia News Service