Careem CEO on a decade of growth and ’decacorn’ ambitions

Careem became the Middle East's first unicorn, a start-up with a valuation of at least $1 billion, in 2016 and three years later was bought by Uber for $3.1bn.

The deal allowed the company to continue to operate independently, and today, its co-founder and chief executive Mudassir Sheikha says it was only the beginning: he plans to stay with Careem as it reaches for 'decacorn' status — a company valued at $10bn.

As Careem celebrates its 10-year anniversary this week, Mr Sheikha is seeking new funding, hires and acquisitions as he leads the expansion of a super app, going into services beyond ride-hailing to include food and grocery delivery, financial services and new partner services including car rental and home cleaning.

He joins co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner this week to reflect on the past decade and talk about what is still to come.

In this episode:

Careem after a decade (0m 13s)
Growth with Careem's super app(3m 44s)
User growth v profitability (9m 15s)
The lessons learnt (14m 42s)
Emerging markets, entrepreneurial trends and what's next for Careem (19m 45s)

 

Read more on our website:

• Dubai's Careem acquires money transfer platform Denarii in FinTech push
• Careem acquires UAE food delivery platform Munch:On
• Careem rental bike fleet to double in size as Dubai embraces cycling
• Uber agrees to buy Careem for $3.1 billion in biggest ever tech deal for region

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