Magnus Olsson

Webit Speaker, Co-founder, Careem

Magnus Olsson is the co-founder and Head of Product at Careem. Prior to embarking on this exciting entrepreneurial journey, Magnus was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. He was part of the high-tech practice and advised clients globally on strategy and business-building. Initially based in Stockholm, Magnus met his Arabic princess during a consulting project in Africa and moved to the Middle East in 2006. Already at the age of fifteen, Magnus founded his first company, an IT consultancy focused on helping SMEs. Magnus lives in Abu Dhabi with his wonderful wife and adorable five year old daughter.

Careem company background

Launched in July 2012 in Dubai, Careem is a car booking service for the Middle East that uses technology to optimize and match the supply and demand for private chauffeur driven cars. Founded by management consultants who specialise in the technology space, Careem aims to lead the way in using technology to better peoples’ lives and take away the everyday hassles they face when it comes to getting around their city. Dubai was a natural place to set up operations and launch Careem as a Middle Eastern serving brand which has now expanded across 16 cities within the MENA region, namely: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Beirut, Casablanca Cairo, Dammam, Dhahran, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Karachi, Khobar, Kuwait, Lahore, Rabat and Riyadh.

Careem is backed by both STV Ventures (the VC arm of Saudi Telecom) and Al Tayyar Travel Group and a collection of other angel investors and will continue to attract investor interest in order to meet its aggressive expansion plans across the region. Collectively they have invested over $12million to date.