Tracing Careem’s rise and retreat in Pakistan, from early dominance to strategic withdrawal.
How macroeconomic volatility, declining VC appetite, and shifting consumer behaviour reshaped the Pakistani mobility landscape.
Why Careem’s late-stage adaptations failed to regain market traction.
How inDrive exploited structural gaps to redefine what winning looks like in frontier markets.
By the time Careem formally winds down its ride-hailing operations in Pakistan on July 18, the company will have spent nearly ten years navigating one of the most complex and dynamic mobility markets in the world.
What began in 2015 as a promising bet on Pakistan’s underdeveloped transport infrastructure, and later became one of the Dubai-based company’s most significant growth stories, has, in less than a decade, unraveled under the weight of macroeconomic instability, intensifying competition, and shifting global investment priorities.
When Careem entered Pakistan in late 2015, it was one of the first organised ride-hailing services in a country with chronically underfunded public transport and few alternatives. The service had quickly gained traction in cities like Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, offering a cleaner, more reliable commuting option in a country where daily travel was defined by informal taxis, haggling, and unpredictability.
Careem’s local positioning was deliberate and effective. The company localised its brand, using terms like “Captains” for drivers and running Urdu-language campaigns that spoke directly to a Pakistani audience. It offered cash payments in a largely unbanked market, adapted onboarding processes to account for low digital literacy, and emphasized community engagement during local festivals.
But perhaps most significantly, it marketed itself not just as a tech platform, but as a force for social change. Nowhere was this more visible than in its early efforts to onboard female drivers. In 2016, Careem launched a pilot initiative to recruit and train women to become Captains, a radical move in a country where female labor force participation hovers around 22%, and women’s mobility is often curtailed by social norms.
Aasia Abdul Aziz, one of the pioneer women drivers of Careem, drives her car in Karachi, Pakistan December 6, 2016.
One early campaign, centred around a driver known as “Captain Neelum,” became emblematic of this shift. She was celebrated not just for driving, but for challenging cultural expectations and providing a visible model of economic independence. Careem’s social media campaigns, branded with hashtags like #HerJourney and #MainHoonAzad, made these women visible, and in doing so, repositioned the company as a progressive actor in Pakistan’s digital transformation.
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