Does Careem support Israel?

We have not yet found publicly recorded donations from Careem. Absence of records does not confirm absence of support.

Filed under: Tech companies · Companies that support Israel

Background

Careem is a Dubai-based ride-hailing and 'everything app' founded in 2012 and operating in more than 70 cities across about ten countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Türkiye. No recorded donations, investments, contracts, sponsorships or statements in support of Israel were found for Careem or for the entities that own it. Careem has never operated in Israel; the one adjacent fact in its history runs the other way — in June 2017 it became the first ride-hailing company to launch in the Palestinian territories, starting in Ramallah and pledging investment in the Palestinian market. Its ownership needs stating precisely, because it is split. Uber agreed in March 2019 to buy Careem for $3.1 billion ($1.4 billion cash plus $1.7 billion in convertible notes) and closed the purchase in January 2020. In April 2023 the non-ride-hailing businesses — food and grocery delivery, Careem Pay, bikes and third-party services — were carved out into Careem Technologies, and on 8 December 2023 the Emirati telecoms group e& completed the acquisition of 50.03% of that entity for $400 million; Uber and Careem's three co-founders retain minority stakes in it, while Uber continues to own the ride-hailing business outright. That matters here because Uber does have one documented Israel-linked corporate action: an equity investment in and partnership with the Israeli drone-delivery startup Flytrex announced in September 2025 (Uber's own earlier taxi-hailing service in Israel had been shut down in June 2023). That act belongs to Uber and is recorded on Uber's page; it is a parent-company fact, not an act by Careem, which has made no payment, investment or statement of its own concerning Israel. Careem is privately held and neither it nor e& files with US regulators, so the absence recorded here rests on news, corporate announcements and exchange filings in the UAE rather than on SEC or IRS records.

Times of Israel — Uber buys Dubai-based competitor Careem for $3.1b CNBC — Uber-owned Careem launches spinout with $400 million investment from e& The National — e& concludes acquisition of majority stake in Careem Technologies (8 December 2023) Gulf News — Careem set to launch in Palestine (Ramallah, 2017) TechCrunch — Uber's September 2025 investment in Israeli drone-delivery startup Flytrex (parent-company fact) Globes — Uber ends taxi-hailing service in Israel (June 2023)

What we checked

• News & official statements — 2026-07-30
  Searched Careem's newsroom and coverage by The National, Gulf News, Zawya, CNBC, Reuters, Wamda and Israeli outlets (Globes, Times of Israel, Calcalist) for 2017–2026. Careem has no Israeli operation and no Israel-related donation, investment, contract, sponsorship or statement. The Israel-linked material found concerns its part-owner Uber — the June 2023 closure of Uber's Israeli taxi-hailing service and the September 2025 Flytrex investment — and is attributed to Uber, not to Careem.
• Nonprofit tax filings (Form 990) — 2026-07-30
  ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer holds no US-registered Careem foundation; the automated query matched only unrelated 'Career'-named charities. Careem is a UAE company whose community programmes are run in-region and are not reported on US Form 990, so no Israel-linked grantmaking can be identified through this source.
• SEC filings — 2026-07-30
  Careem has no SEC registration or CIK of its own; it is privately held, and its majority owner in the super-app business, e&, reports to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. US filings mention Careem only inside Uber's disclosures of the 2019–2020 acquisition and the 2023 e& transaction, none of which record any Israel-related activity by Careem.
• Federal election records (FEC) — 2026-07-30
  An OpenFEC committee search for Careem returned zero committees; the company has no US PAC and, as a foreign corporation, may not contribute in US federal elections. Uber's separate US PAC is covered on Uber's own page and shows no pro-Israel committee recipients.
• Independent fact-checkers — 2026-07-30
  Cross-checked BDS Movement materials and circulating boycott lists. Careem appears in consumer petitions asking it to drop boycott-targeted restaurant chains from Careem Food, and in posts citing Uber's ownership; neither rests on a documented act by Careem, and Uber's Flytrex investment is recorded on Uber's page with independent sourcing. Advocacy listings alone are not treated as evidence here.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & citations

Record last updated: 2026-07-30

• Times of Israel — Uber buys Dubai-based competitor Careem for $3.1b timesofisrael.com
• CNBC — Uber-owned Careem launches spinout with $400 million investment from e& cnbc.com
• The National — e& concludes acquisition of majority stake in Careem Technologies (8 December 2023) thenationalnews.com
• Gulf News — Careem set to launch in Palestine (Ramallah, 2017) gulfnews.com
• TechCrunch — Uber's September 2025 investment in Israeli drone-delivery startup Flytrex (parent-company fact) techcrunch.com
• Globes — Uber ends taxi-hailing service in Israel (June 2023) en.globes.co.il