UAE-Based Swapp Joins Careem’s Mobility Ecosystem In The Middle East

Careem, the UAE-headquartered enterprise building the "everything app" for the greater Middle East, has acquired a minority stake in UAE-based online car rental service Swapp. 

Founded in Dubai in 2020, Swapp provides a fully digital car rental experience, with it also delivering vehicles directly to customers’ doorsteps within 24 hours. With Swapp having been integrated into Careem as its Car Rental offering in 2022, the new deal between the two companies is set to enable them to deliver even more innovative solutions to simplify car rental services across the region.

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Uzair Moosa, CEO of Swapp, said that Careem's minority stake in his startup—which marks the first time the Uber-owned enterprise has taken an equity stake in one of its partner apps—redefines their partnership by aligning both companies’ long-term goals and growth strategies. “We’ve moved from simply being an integrated service to becoming a strategic part of Careem’s wider mobility ecosystem," Moosa said. "With this stake, our long-term interests are now aligned: we’re setting joint revenue targets, co-designing product and marketing plans, and tapping into Careem’s world-class technology. That means solving challenges faster—for example, using Careem’s existing know-your-customer (KYC) and payments infrastructure instead of building from scratch—and creating new growth opportunities through cross-selling to millions of Careem customers based on their usage patterns. In short, this minority stake makes Swapp a core partner in shaping what the future of mobility looks like in the region." 

The Careem–Swapp partnership is set to bring customers a host of benefits, including instant KYC for onboarding in minutes, one-hour car delivery powered by smarter fleet dispatching, and real-time tracking through driver app integration so that users can monitor arrivals live. Customers will also gain the flexibility to swap vehicles on demand as their needs change, as well as to choose a lease-to-own option that creates a smoother path to ownership, all through the Swapp platform. 

Image courtesy Swapp.

For Swapp, reaching this stage in its trajectory has meant working through long-standing gaps in the market, Moosa said. “Disrupting car rentals meant rethinking an industry that has traditionally been rigid, opaque, and often frustrating for customers," he explained. "Our biggest challenge was making it easy for people to find the right car at the right price for their specific need, and then ensuring the entire journey was frictionless. We’ve addressed this by building smart recommendation tools that personalize choices, grouping cars by use cases, and by obsessing over customer experience—always fighting for the fairest possible outcome."

The Careem partnership thus opens up a new chapter for Swapp’s growth. "With Careem’s backing, we can take this to the next level," Moosa said. "They’ve already solved many of the same challenges at scale in ride-hailing, from optimizing user experience to building trust through consistency. Now, we can leverage their learnings, technology, and ecosystem to accelerate our growth—and ultimately raise the bar for what customers should expect in mobility across the region." 

In terms of advice for entrepreneurs building consumer-facing tech in MENA, Moosa pointed to Swapp’s experience as proof that relentless customer focus is non-negotiable. “The first lesson is to focus relentlessly on the customer," he said. "In legacy industries, the friction points are easy to spot—from complex booking processes to hidden costs and poor service—and the opportunity lies in removing them while delivering a significantly better experience at a price customers are willing to pay. That requires adaptability, constant iteration based on feedback, and, from day one, a clear path to profitability underpinned by strong product–market fit. This is what gives both customers and investors' confidence." 

Moosa also pointed to the importance of collaborations in driving expansion and building trust. “Strategic partnerships can become a powerful catalyst for scale," he said. "They can reduce distribution costs, expand reach, and build trust more quickly—but only if there is genuine alignment in values, vision, and long-term growth goals. Otherwise, the risks can outweigh the benefits. In our case, Careem was the ideal partner, because of the depth of that alignment, making the upside far greater than any trade-offs." 

Pictured in the lead image is Uzair Moosa, CEO of Swapp. Courtesy of Swapp.