Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has teamed up with Daimler AG, the world’s biggest luxury-car maker, as an investor in a $500 million-fundraising bid by Dubai-based ride-hailing company, Careem.
Bloomberg reported that Alwaleed’s investment vehicle, Kingdom Holding, will get a seat on Careem Networks FZ’s board as part of the deal. DCM Ventures and New York-based Coatue Management LLC also took part in the second round of fundraising, which valued the company at $1 billion, the ride-hailing company said.
Careem has already raised $350 million from investors including Japan’s Rakuten Inc. and Saudi Telecom Co. when it announced the results of its first round of fundraising in December. CEO Mudassir Sheikha told Bloomberg TV at the time that the company could consider selling shares to the public by 2019.
This announcement follows in a long line of investments flowing into Middle Eastern technology startups, with companies seeking to profit from the region’s wealthy consumer base and high smartphone penetration rate.
Saudi Telecom has created a $500 million fund to be run by ex-Google executive Abdulrahman Tarabzouni that will invest in technology such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Dubai-based Mohamed Alabbar is also increasingly focusing more on technology investments. He acquired a “large stake” in venture-capital firm Middle East Venture Partners last month, and has raised $1 billion from investors including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to create e-commerce firm Noon.
