Riyadh – Mubasher: China-based Didi Chuxing has announced entering into a strategic partnership with Careem, marking the Chinese firm’s first collaboration in the MENA region.
"Didi Chuxing brings leading edge AI capabilities, insight, and expertise to our organisation as we enter our next phase of growth," Careem CEO and co-founder Mudassir Sheikha said in a statement, noting that the deal is an “evolution” in Careem’s relationship, enabling it to “effectively pursue growth opportunities”.
The two ride-hailing companies would “look deep into all potential areas of synergy to create the right kinds of products and services for users,” a Didi spokeswoman told Bloomberg via email on Tuesday.
However, the companies declined to disclose the value of the deal.
Meanwhile, a Careem spokeswoman was quoted by the news agency as saying that “users will not be able to hail Didi and Careem cars from the same app.”
"Growing urban populations and economic and social diversity in the MENA region present enormous opportunities for the ride-hailing economy,” Didi Chuxing’s founder and CEO Cheng Wei said in the statement.
Founded in Dubai in 2012, Careem currently offers ride-hailing services to more than 12 million users across more than 80 cities in 13 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Turkey.
In June, Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Germany’s Daimler jointly participated in raising $500 million for Careem, during a fundraiser.
China’s Didi Chuxing, which serves more than 400 million users across 400 cities, is strongly backed by SoftBank Group, which contributed $5 billion to the firm at an April fundraiser.
Last week, Didi acquired Estonia’s Taxify OU - it’s first major move in Europe.
