Careem Business Model Explained: A Closer Look at UAE’s Ride-Hailing Success

by Sachleen Singh valueappz

Quick Summary: Careem is a super app in the Middle East that lends various services, from taxis to food, grocery, and online payments. Are you a startup willing to create a similar app to attract an audience from several industries? You need to understand Careem’s business model, revenue streams, and how the app works to do that. Check out this blog to get the details.

Have you ever heard about an on-demand app that provides several services under one brand? Careem is one such app. Founded in 2012 by Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson, the company started as a website-based service for corporate car bookings.

Careem is everything app. Want to book a ride or make online payments? Or want to order groceries and food online? It’s all possible with the Careem app. The Careem business model is designed to empower customers to do everything from a single platform, providing quick solutions to all their problems.

This Dubai-headquartered app has successfully completed over 1 million rides. This famous brand in the Middle East has over 2.5 million captains registered to the app. These numbers prove that Careem is one of the best problem-solving apps for the target audience who want to commute from one place to another.

But what is Careem’s business model that makes it so successful? What are its revenue streams, and how Careem works?

With our blog, you will get detailed answers to all these questions. Also, discover the cost of building an app like Careem.

How Careem Evolved- A Quick History

Before we begin to talk about the details of Careem and how it became a super app, let’s look at the background of this brand. A website-based service that was launched to let corporations book cabs today provides all necessary services from food delivery to grocery, pharmacy, and online payments.

The table below shows how the Careem brand evolved over the years.

The Evolvement of Careem Brand
2012	Careem was founded in Dubai as a website-based service for corporate car bookings.
2013	Careem launched its first mobile app and expanded to Riyadh and Saudi Arabia.
2014	Careem expanded to Cairo, Egypt and raised $6 million in Series A funding.
2015	Careem expanded to six more cities in the Middle East and North Africa. The company launched Careem Now- a food delivery service.
2016	Careem expanded to Turkey and Pakistan. It launched Careem Pay- a digital payment platform.
2017	Careem expanded to 10 more cities in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. It launched Careem Chauffeur, a service that lets passengers book a private driver.
2018	Careem expanded to 15 more cities in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
2019	Careem expanded its services to 20 more cities in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. It was acquired by Uber for $3.1 billion USD.
2020	Careem launched Careem Trips-services that lets passengers book rides with Uber drivers.
2021	Careem expanded to 25 more cities in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
2022	Careem expanded to 30 more cities in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.

How is Careem a Super App?

For the greater Middle East audience, Careem is a super app that provides four essential services: food delivery, grocery delivery, online payments, and taxi services. Let’s take a look at these services one by one.

1. Taxi services

Begun as its first model, Careem’s online taxi booking services are one of the leading brands in the Middle East. Its services cover 12 countries and 100+ cities across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia regions. It provides 3 car types categories: budget, standard, and premium.

Since 2012, Careem has had over 50 million customers registered to the app who have earned a seamless experience through this platform. Careem taxi services are convenient, reliable, safe, and affordable. Customers may quickly book rides, follow their drivers in real-time, and take advantage of safe and comfortable transportation with the help of a user-friendly mobile application. Drivers who have undergone background checks and are dedicated to offering excellent customer service make up Careem’s fleet.