Ride-hailing startup Careem acquires local company to take on Uber in Pakistan

Photo credit: Emanuele

Uber was a comparatively late entrant to Pakistan, launching in one city at the start of March. Dubai-headquartered ride-hailing app Careem had been running in Pakistan for almost a year, and local startup Savaree for far longer.

Careem, which raised an impressive US$60 million recently, isn’t going to allow Uber to dominate the Pakistan market. The startup said today that it has acquired Savaree, ostensibly to enter the capital city, Islamabad, where the homegrown app has spent some time building up its driver base.

Careem’s post to Facebook gives no further details, but Tech in Asia has reached out to the company and will update accordingly.

Careem had previously said that it’s growing at an average rate of 30 percent month-on-month. Built in 2012, it now operates in more than 20 cities across the Middle East and Pakistan. It’s backed by well-known investors such as the Abraaj Group and Al Tayyar.

Update on March 30 10:00 PM: Junaid Iqbal, Careem’s CEO for Pakistan, tells Tech in Asia that Savaree will operate as a legal entity of Careem. All its assets, including technology and intellectual property will be transferred to Careem. Madeeha Hassan, founder of Savaree, will join Careem as part of its global product team and will specifically lead product innovation for Pakistan.

“We have acquired Savaree for the talent and immense local knowledge it brings along,” he adds.

Junaid declined to reveal financial details of the acquisition but did hint at more deals in the future. “We’re open to all options that are synergistic,” he affirmed.