Today (4 of May), Uber announced that it is exiting eight “smaller” markets, according to regulatory filings as well as emails to affected staff and customers.
The eight countries include Czech Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and Uruguay, where the operations are to be discontinued. In addition, the operations in UAE will be transferred to Careem by 18 May.
The closure in Saudi Arabia (effectively today) and Egypt (by 18 May), plus the transfer in UAE, effectively indicate that Uber Eats is exiting Middle East as a region.
Consolidation with Careem was bound to happen – and this might be just the first step.
Below is an email from Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, VP Uber Eats at Uber, announcing the exit to the affected staff: