Careem Networks, the Middle East’s leading private car booking service acquires Morocco based car
booking service TAXIII’s assets and brings founder, Yassir El Ismaili and all TAXIII team onboard.
Careem, which serves 14 cities across the Middle East, will expand into Rabat and Casablanca initially, with Marrakech being added in the future, the company said in a statement.
Taxiii’s team and CEO will be joining Careem’s 70 strong staff.
Last year in December Careem had announced that it had raised about $10 million investment in a round led by Saudi’s Al Tayyar Travel Group, STC Ventures and other regional investors.
The company said that it will use the cash infusion to expand its business to new markets and to develop its technology and operations platform.
Taxiii started a taxi & car booking app in June 2014 and was founded by Yassir EL ISMAILI EL IDRISSI, former consultant at Accenture in Paris & HR Director for Webhelp & Intelcia. Taxiii started its operations in Rabat, quickly followed in September 2014 by Casablanca, covering a population of 5 million people, where smartphone equipment is estimated to be 60%. Taxiii developed a unique understanding of local regulations and brings in a community of active users, several corporates and drivers. The new service, called Careem Morocco, will be the largest aggregator of privately booked cars in the country.
“Customers can choose to settle their fares via a registered credit card should they wish, with the option to pay cash still supported,” explains Selim Turki, head of new products at Careem.
