Taxi-hailing app Careem, a competitor to Uber in the Middle East, has raised $350 million in venture funding led by Rakuten, the Japanese eCommerce company, and Saudi Telecom Company. Careem has a valuation of $1 billion.
Careem’s service is up and running in seven cities in 11 countries, largely in the Middle East, with service in Pakistan, Turkey and parts of North Africa. With the new investment, Careem plans to expand into other countries and to increase its driver pool to 15 new cities in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. For the Middle East, that could mean 1 million new jobs.
Competitor and industry leader Uber is currently in 400 cities across the globe. In June, Uber got a $3.5 billion investment from Public Investment Fund, the Saudi Arabia investment fund, giving it a valuation then of $62 billion.
$350 million | Amount raised by taxi-hailing startup Careem in a venture funding round
$1 billion | Careem’s valuation
7, 11 | Careem operates in seven cities and 11 countries
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15 | The funding will be used to expand to 15 new cities
1 million | Number of jobs Careem’s expansion could create
400 | Number of cities Uber currently services
$3.5 billion | Investment Uber got from Public Investment Fund in June of this year
$62 billion | Uber’s valuation in June
