Talixo, European rival of Uber, expands to the Middle East

The recent $3.1bn acquisition of Dubai-based Careem by its international rival Uber underlined the attractiveness of the Middle Eastern market for ride-hailing apps, with much of the local population in need of easy transportation options. Not long after this acquisition, Careem announced that it had acquired local bike-rental startup Cyacle, in line with Uber’s vision to become the main company for everything mobility and transportation related.

However, while Careem and its parent company Uber are expanding into different categories of transportation, including bike rental and food transportation, it is seeing other international ride-hailing apps emerge in the region.

Talixo, a Germany-based ride-hailing company, recently announced its expansion into the Middle East. However, there is a slight differentiating factor: while Careem and Uber provide ad-hoc travel solutions, Talixo offers only pre-booked transport services.

Commenting on the expansion, Chief Commercial Officer Henry Joseph-Grant said in an interview that, “We have customers in the Middle East travelling globally, using us across the world. The Middle East is fast becoming one of our quickest growing regions and [is] increasingly important strategically.” Read more about Talixo’s expansion into the region here.