Uber’s rival in the Middle East is now valued at $1 billion

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Saudi Telecom, a government-controlled telecommunications company, said Sunday it would acquire a 10 percent stake in Dubai-headquartered ride-hailing startup Careem for US$100 million (h/t Bloomberg).

Careem rivals Uber for supremacy in the Middle East and Pakistan, similar to Grab in Southeast Asia. It operates in 47 cities and last raised US$60 million in November 2015.

Saudi Telecom – through its venture capital arm STC Ventures – is an existing investor in Careem. Other backers include private equity firm Abraaj Capital and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Tayyar Travel Group.

The ride-hailing startup was formed in 2012 by Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson – two former management consultants at McKinsey.

Data compiled by SimilarWeb in August indicated Careem was more popular than Uber in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the UAE.

We’ve reached out to Careem for more details and will update the piece when we hear back.

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from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/careem-100-million-funding
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