How a Middle East Startup Took on Uber — and Won

Dubai-based Careem is the ride-hailing king from Morocco to Pakistan. Its success holds lessons for Western startups with global ambitions

Fadya Fahad, one of the first female drivers for Careem, a regional ride-hailing service that is a competitor to Uber, in her rented car on June 24, 2018, the first day women were legally allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

By E.B. Boyd

Uber was supposed to take over the world. Investors dueled to stake billions in the company on the assumption it would become the global market leader — the Google- or Facebook-style winner-take-all of the ride-hailing industry.

It hasn’t turned out that way, with Uber in retreat overseas. After storming into Russia and China five years ago, Uber has since pulled out of both countries. And earlier this year, it announced it was also giving up Southeast Asia. Altogether, Uber has effectively ceded half the world’s potential customers.

Even in the Middle East, a part of the world not known for its startup prowess, Uber has failed to dominate. The leader there is Dubai-based Careem, a six-year-old startup founded by two ex-McKinsey & Company consultants. The amount of money it’s raised isn’t even 3% of Uber’s war chest, and yet the company is still outpacing the Silicon Valley giant.