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Careem is a UAE-based ground transportation technology company that has become known for its reliability, safety, and affordable online services of chauffeur-driven cars. Customers can order a ride on Careem.com or through the company’s iOS and Android apps. They can track their driver’s location, pay via credit cards and access receipts online.

Careem was established on July 2012, focused on serving in the Middle East after covering seven cities in the GCC including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, and Doha. It has recently expanded to Beirut with a handful of cars as part of their pilot launch.

In an earlier conversation with Careem’s co-founder Mudassir Sheikha, he shared with us their plans for the first stages: getting the needed supply, traffic assessment, and usage patterns so they can be ready when they officially launch.

Why Beirut

According to Careem, they have received a lot of requests from their customers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to open in Lebanon. They know there is a huge market here with a lot of competition, but none of the competitors allows its customers to order through their website or mobile app. Careem also intend to make their service cheaper, better, faster, and more convenient than most out there.

What’s Neat about Careem

Their web and mobile apps support landmark based pickup and dropoff, which is amazing for tourists and locals alike. They let customers pre-book and make repeat bookings, have great customer care, including contact centers for both customers and drivers by both phone and email. Unlike world renowned competitor Uber, customers can pay without using an online credit card by instead buying credits with cash at careem.com/credits. I have personally used their service back in Dubai when we went to the Digital summit; their ride was smooth, quick, accurate, and their drivers were really nice people!

Current Prices in Lebanon

The current offering is Careem Business Class, which mostly entail of Audi and similar high caliber cars. They’re a little more expensive than common commercial taxis in Beirut, but are more luxurious. Still this is good enough for a pilot launch. Careem will have more flexible prices as soon as they fully launch with more affordable options.

Goals & Growth

Their current geographical goal is to become available in all major cities of the broader Middle East. As for their products & services: they intend to apply different applications of their resources, as they have experimented transporting different things from flowers to cupcakes to documents, to products people buy from dubizzle. They could be looking to institutionalize these applications of their services in the future, as per co-founder Mudassir Sheikha.