Tech and Telecom

Careem is Raising $150 Million for a Food Delivery Business and It Could Launch in Pakistan First: Reuters

Big news! Careem is setting aside $150 million for launching a food delivery service in Pakistan. This was revealed by two different sources privy to the matter, saying that we could see CareemFood as early as September this year.

This wasn’t unexpected, as the ride-hailing service had acquired RoundMenu back in February. RoundMenu is an online restaurant listing platform from the Middle East, available in multiple Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan etc.

According to one of the sources, Careem is planning to raise $150 million for CareemFood, in an ongoing fundraising round.


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Reuters had previously reported in March that Careem is looking to raise $500 million.

The sources also said that CareemFood will be initially launched in Pakistan in September, then launching UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Gulf countries.

Competition

The most obvious competition would be from foodpanda in Pakistan, with UberEats, Talabat, Deliveroo, and Zomato in the other countries.

The investors’ identities were not revealed by the sources. What we do know is that Careem’s investors include German automaker Daimler, Saudi Prince and Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding 4280.SE, and China’s Didi Chuxing ride-hailing service which pushed out Uber last year.

High Demand

Food delivery is in strong demand in the Middle East, especially as the temperatures go well above 50 degrees Celsius in summers. Careem currently has 24 million users in the region and competes with Uber in several Gulf countries.

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Published by
Haamiz Ahmed