Careem has launched an online delivery market service for food and other goods in Dubai and Jeddah. Called Careem NOW, the company plans to invest more than $150 million in the new service, which will eventually be rolled out across its network in Egypt and Pakistan.

“Over 85 per cent of the food delivery markets in our region still operates via traditional call-and-order methods...Careem NOW can do for food delivery what Careem has successfully done for ride hailing. It’s another new vertical from Careem as we expand beyond ride-hailing,” said Adeeb Warsi, managing director at Careem NOW.

According to the company’s own research, food delivery in Careem NOW's target countries is predicted to become a around $25 billion market by 2022. The new service is separate from the Careem’s ride-hailing application with its own dedicated fleet of vehicles.