Careem acquires local competitor Savaree

Savaree founder Madeeha Hassan to become part of Careem’s global product team

On-demand cab service Careem on Wednesday announced it has acquired Savaree, a local on-demand cab service that started out as a carpooling platform two years ago in Lahore.

Careem managing director in Pakistan Junaid Iqbal confirmed his company had acquired 100% of Savaree and had taken all of the company’s employees on board, including founder Madeeha Hassan. Hassan will be joining Careem’s global product team and will take over the role of product lead for the company’s Pakistan operations which will include pricing, technology, and customer interaction, among other things.



Careem will launch a proper customer outreach campaign soon to help migrate Savaree customers to Careem, Iqbal added.

Speaking of Madeeha, Iqbal said she had a wealth of knowledge in the field. “She built Savaree from ground up, knows the nuts and bolts of this business and we are super excited to have her on board and lead product innovation for Pakistan.”

“Careem’s strength in the region has been its localisation of products, and Madeeha’s addition to the team is a shot in the arm on that front,” Iqbal said. All of Savaree’s intellectual property will also come under Careem’s ownership.



Speaking of Savaree’s ride-sharing service, Iqbal said that it is something the company will look into, although there were no plans of expanding the portfolio of services at the moment.

Careem has now expanded into Islamabad as well, its third city in Pakistan after Lahore and Karachi.