Careem expands services with the acquisition of UAE company Munch:On 

Ride-hailing company Careem has acquired UAE subscription-based food delivery company Munch:On as it expands food offerings on its multi-services platform. 

Following the acquisition, Munch:On will stop daily operations and its services will be rebuilt into the Careem app. 

Founded in 2016 Munch: On connects customers – across 20,000 companies – to meals at a discount by tapping into underutilised kitchen capacity and using scheduling, bundling and routing software. The Careem Food and Munch: On teams will work together to introduce low-cost meal segments that the latter has pioneered in the region as well as new food discovery and delivery options for corporates. 

In the UAE, Careem’s app offers various services including ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, micro-mobility, payments, car rental, home cleaning as well as PCR testing. Careem Food serves customers with access to over 18,000 restaurants in eight core cities across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar. 

Careem became the Middle East’s first unicorn, a start-up with a valuation of more than USD1 billion, when US-based Uber bought it in 2019 for USD3.1 billion. 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 Arab world’s most populous country. 

Careem’s legal team was led by general counsel Stavros Panayi (pictured).