Having entered the startup ecosystem early in 2000 as a founding member of mobile testing firm DeviceAnywhere, Mudassir Sheikha turned Careem into the Middle East’s first unicorn. His vision to simplify life led to the creation of the ride-hailing app, which has now become an integrated platform that allows users to order food, groceries and make seamless digital payments.

Sheikha’s zeal for expansion has taken the super app to 100 cities across 14 countries, from Pakistan to North Africa. With the introduction of cleaning and PCR testing to Careem’s services, he has demonstrated how services of different apps can be consolidated into super apps so that users and businesses can make the most of connected ecosystems.