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Battle of the doppelgänger startups that want to take you places Overview Careem vs. Carpool Arabia By Pamella de Leon
T
he taxi takes an hour to pick you up, the driver is unaware of your destination, and to boot doesn’t have change. With the inconvenience of commuting and taxis, consumers are looking for other options. There’s a rise in transportation startups across the GCC; in some ways they’re similar, but for the most part they’re not. Wondering what the differences are? We asked the founders of Careem and Carpool Arabia. Idea
Careem, an “online chauffeur-driven car service”, was ignited from the co-founders’ frustration. Mudassir Sheikha and Karl Magnus Olsson were disappointed with transportation services and both had aspirations of building something that would have a positive impact. As management consultants who were always on the go, the duo felt how adeptly the airlines and hospitality industries addressed their clients, and found that car services were insufficient. Two years ago, the duo wrote down what they now call “Careem Values” and developed a six-week plan to launch a pilot that included developing the first version of the web platform and app, signing up transport companies, training drivers and getting a pilot customer on board. Their initial targets were corporate customers, and though that’s still a segment of their business, the consumer business side is growing swiftly. 74
Entrepreneur
AUGUST 2014
Startup Carpool Arabia lets users carpool to different venues, triggered by founder Benjamin de Terssac’s commuter stress. He observed that most cars on the road were occupied by just the driver, and that there was a lack of affordable alternatives- not to mention the congested traffic. After researching and establishing that others were facing the same issue, de Terssac decided to localize the successful carpooling concept for the Middle East market. In late November 2013, de Terssac convinced the previous CTO of his former startup TaskMine, Leejo Pylappan, to join in launching the “green project” during Startup Weekend Dubai, where the rest of the team was formed. Six weeks later, CarpoolArabia.com was opened for beta users and officially launched on February 2014.
Careem is a “value-added aggregator of the chauffer-driven cars in the Middle East.” Working with licensed transport companies, they screen and train their drivers who are GPS-equipped. The company handles sales and marketing, web platform and app development to take and manage bookings, and call center operation for customer service and driver support. Once you’ve downloaded the app or visited the website, select a pickup location and a drop off location; the app will find a nearby car and you’ll be able to track progress on a real-time map, in addition to paying with credit card or cash for credits. Based on distance and time spent waiting, prices differ from ondemand to pre-scheduled services. Carpool Arabia has two services available; first off they’re a corporate carpooling service for companies, and secondly by letting individuals share the ride and cost with other users (“like Airbnb but for rides”), they’re introducing a transportation system that’s affordable, reduces traffic and carbon footprint, and lessens the stress of driving solo. On their website, drivers can see a directory of others offering a ride specifying itinerary and passenger fee. Passengers use the Carpool Arabia internal messaging service to plan pick up and drop off and discuss detours, without disclosing email addresses, but you are free to disclose other details. Prices are based on Carpool Arabia suggestions, calculated per itinerary and driver-incurred cost. Drivers offering a ride can also specify the price depending on the quality of the service they are offering (Silver/Gold/Platinum), but location, time or date is not taken into consideration when suggesting passenger fee. While Careem is looking to hit their break-even point in a year’s time, Carpool Arabia has a two-tier ROI plan that involves e-commerce and user onboarding.