Careem said to mull 14-country roll-out of new bus service. Victor Besa / The National
Careem said to mull 14-country roll-out of new bus service. Victor Besa / The National

Careem said to test bus-booking service



Careem, the Middle East ride-hailing provider based in the UAE, is testing a bus-booking service ahead of a possible roll-out out across all 14 countries it operates in.
Careem Bus - a division aimed at attracting low-income earners - will initially go live in at least four Egyptian cities, and is expected to be rolled out in September, according to people familiar with the business who asked to remain anonymous. A Careem spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The people did not disclose how much the Dubai company is investing in this project, but indicated that significant capital has been allocated for it.
Competition with Uber Technologies is pushing Careem to look at expanding into other services including food and package delivery. Uber has held preliminary talks to merge with its local competitor, people familiar with the matter previously told Bloomberg.

Careem has also been speaking with investors to raise $500 million, and has held early talks with banks about a potential IPO in January.

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Company profile: buybackbazaar.com

Name: buybackbazaar.com

Started: January 2018

Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech, micro finance

Initial investment: $1 million

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Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
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Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute

Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc

Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar

His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach

Also enjoys listening to Mozart

Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz

Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica 

Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil

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