With ride-hailing giant Careem’s instant success in Pakistan, it comes as no surprise that the people behind the company are receiving global recognition.
Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder and CEO of the company is the only Pakistani to make Bloomberg’s top 50 list for 2018.
Bloomberg released the annual list of people who are shaping the modern culture and redefining global business landscape.
Ride-hailing giant, Careem has proven to be tough competition for Uber which was reportedly in a discussion of being acquired by the former in a deal of $2.5 billion.
The company has more than 1 million drivers in the Middle East and Northern Africa allowing customers to book not just cars but also bikes, rickshaws, and boats.
“Technology is enabling regional economies to leapfrog traditional infrastructure challenges around transportation, banking, and communication,” says Sheikha to Bloomberg.
Careem’s estimated valuation has gone over $2 billion amid the ride-hailing boom.
“Internet-enabled services are having a profound and positive impact on our region, where the consumer internet opportunity is huge and untapped,” Sheikha said in a statement.
Launched in 2012 as a web-based interface developed by engineers in Sindh’s provincial capital, Careem was an online booking service that handled corporate orders. Vehicles were dispatched manually not unlike the way Metro Radio Cab handles its orders.
Sheikha is also using his influence to support the One Million Arab Coders initiative that offers online courses on its website. He also began Hackathon in Ramallah and an AI-oriented summer camp in UAE very recently.
