Careem Boosts Food Delivery Space Footing With MUNCH:ON Acquisition

Careem, the Dubai-based ride-hailing company with operations in over 100 cities across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia has acquired the food delivery platform MUNCH:ON for an undisclosed sum.

Since January 2020, Careem has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber after being acquired for $3.1 billion.

Founded in 2016 by Mohammad Al Zaben, Dana Baki, and Awn Ali, MUNCH:ON is a subscription-based food delivery platform that connects customers to meals at a discount by tapping into excess kitchen capacity and using scheduling, bundling and routing technologies.

Prior to the Careem takeover, MUNCH:ON had raised more than $16 million in 4 funding rounds.

In a statement on Friday (June 24), Careem said that MUNCH:ON will stop daily operations and its services will be rebuilt into the Careem app.

“The MUNCH:ON team have built a competitive food offering driven by a clear vision to make food more accessible and affordable,” said Mudassir Sheikha, chief executive and co-founder of Careem.

“The food offered on the Careem app today serves millions of customers across the Middle East and is growing rapidly. By acquiring Munch:On, Careem Food will be able to build an even more competitive offering with a much richer variety of benefits for customers and restaurant partners,” he added.

The acquisition is not Careem’s first foray into the food delivery business. Careem Food already serves millions of customers with access to more than 18,000 restaurants in eight core cities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar.

What’s more, in February, Careem invested an undisclosed amount in one of Egypt’s fastest-growing food delivery platforms elmenus, in a bid to grow its presence in the country.

More on this: Egypt’s Food Delivery Startup Elmenus Secures Backing from Uber’s Careem

Besides ride-hailing and a growing presence in the food delivery space, through partnerships, Careem also offers services including car rentals, home cleaning and PCR testing to its customers in the UAE. The company also launched a digital payment platform, Careem Pay in April 2022.