United Arab Emirates-based on-demand ride platform Careem has raised another $150m to close a series E round led by e-commerce group Rakuten at $500m, TechCrunch reported today.
Rakuten and Saudi Telecom co-led the $350m first tranche of the round in December 2016, investing alongside travel services group Al Tayyar, asset manager Abraaj Group, Beco Capital, El Sewedy Investments, Endure Capital, Lumia Capital, SQM Frontier and Wamda Capital.
The $150m second tranche was led by diversified investment group Kingdom Holding and included automotive manufacturer Daimler, venture capital firm DCM Ventures, investment firm Coatue Management and, likely, Rakuten, though that has not been confirmed.
Careem operates an app-based ride ordering service that spans 80 cities across 13 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, having doubled the number of cities in which it operates over the past six months.
Klaus Entenmann, CEO of Daimler subsidiary Daimler Financial Services, said in a statement: “With our investment in Careem, we are now taking the strategic step to becoming the world’s leading provider of mobility services.
“Careem has quickly leapt to the leadership of ridesharing within the [Middle East and North Africa] regions by delivering rapid innovation and customer growth, and it is spearheading new ways to transport people from point A to point B.”
Kingdom Holding has also acquired secondary shares in Careem,including from Abraaj which has now exited, and said it paid a total of $62m for a 7% stake in the company, though that would indicate a valuation of $885m, lower than the $1.2bn valuation which a source touted to TechCrunch.
A regulatory filing in January stated Careem was raising the funding at a $1bn valuation, which would suggest the $1.2bn is a post-money figure, and that Kingdom Holding had made the secondary share purchase at a lower valuation.
Careem has now raised a total of $572m. Saudi Telecom’s corporate venturing vehicle STC Ventures led its $1.7m series A round in 2013 and took part in a $10m round that was led by Al Tayyar in 2014.
Both corporates subsequently contributed to a $60m series C round in late 2015, together with Abraaj, Beco Capital, Lumia Capital, Wamda Capital and Kuwaiti state-owned investment fund Impulse.