The headlines of the Careem story are well known within the region - the first tech Unicorn and largest exit. It is cited as a groundbreaking triumph, prompting a wave of start up success and confidence in the ecosystem.

But 10 years on, Careem found itself at a crossroads. The acquisition had created an identity crisis, while covid and a downturn in the global economy sucked the energy that had been the lifeblood of the early years.

This film sought to reignite the passion, by going deep behind the scenes of the gloried early years, and illustrating how painful moments had been the catalyst for changes that propelled the company onwards. We wanted to reinspire both our colleagues and the wider community, bringing back the original confidence that came with achieving what had seemed so impossible.

There were many ways in which we could tell the story, but we believed that to create something that would actually inspire people, we had to do it in a way that felt completely authentic, and devoid of brand polish or bias.

The idea to create a behind the scenes documentary, allowed us to build credibility by opening up about the controversies and failures - embracing the vulnerability of telling the story with honesty, in the hope that it may inspire others encountering their own struggles.

We had seen many brand stories being told on the tv, with fictional characters and romanticised story lines. However, we also observed the growing obsession with real life formats, and knew that if we could combine the two, we could create something deeply engaging.

The film pulls back the curtain on the Careem story - one of the region’s most influential and inspiring startups. It goes behind the scenes to show how a life changing moment for its founder led to the inception moment, from where humble beginnings began a wild ride to a $3billion Uber acquisition just 10 years later.

It captures the unique spirit that kept the show on the road, even through moments of extreme jeopardy, and dives honestly into sensational moments including a major hacking, government enforced shut downs, and a pandemic that brought transportation to a stop.

What had originally been intended to ignite the fire internally, went way beyond.

We saw a 30% rise in applications for new roles across the board. But that was only the beginning.

The public instantly engaged with 9.2 million people watching online. Amongst them were Emirates, who invited us to share our story inflight, putting the story in front of over 40million flyers, including running an exclusive takeover audio teaser on every flight.

And, as Careem went to the market for new investment, the documentary was seen by the e& leadership, who subsequently invested $400million to be part of Careem’s next chapter.