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Operator buys 10% stake in Uber rival as part of strategy of investing in digital innovation.
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) on Sunday paid $100 million (€95.9 million) for a 10% stake in ride-sharing service Careem.
The Middle East’s answer to Uber was founded in Dubai in 2012. It enables travellers in 47 cities across the region, as well as North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan, to order and pay for a chauffeur-driven car online or using a mobile app. It faces growing competition from U.S.-based Uber, which is expanding in the Middle East in part thanks to a $3.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in June.
STC first invested in Careem in 2013 via its venture capital arm, STC Ventures, which ploughed $1.7 million into the company.
Sunday’s investment "is in line with the company strategy to invest in the innovative digital world, which helps the company to provide additional valuable and innovative products and services to their valued customers and to enhance communication via mobile within the transport system," said STC, in a statement.
According to a Reuters report on Monday, STC’s investment on Sunday is part of Careem’s latest funding round.
Careem hopes to raise $500 million in total, and has so far completed the first tranche, totalling $350 million. In addition to STC, Japan-based e-commerce company Rakuten also invested.
