Arcab, a Dubai-based mass mobility solutions start-up, is driving change in the UAE's public transport sector by helping bus operators to make use of idle fleets and ensure commuters arrive at work safely and on time.
Founded by Bilal Shabandri and Kevin Martin in 2019, the company is currently working with more than 40 bus operators in the UAE to help at least two dozen companies carry their employees to work.
“We enable the fleet operators such as Dubai Taxi Corporation, Europcar and Emirates Transport, which own thousands of buses in their fleet that might be idle, that might not be fully utilised, and we help them to bring in additional revenue and increase their gross margins – all of these with vehicles they already have in their fleet,” says Mr Shabandri, chief executive and co-founder of Arcab.
“For example, we brought in half a million dollars in revenue for some of the largest operators and we increased their gross margins from 7 per cent to 30 per cent in less than a month with vehicles they already had in their fleet.”
Mr Shabandri and Mr Martin founded the company after noticing how commuters struggled to reach their workplaces on crowded buses and trains.
“I was working with a large corporate in Business Bay, while Bilal went to work at Jebel Ali. Getting there was not pleasant. The amount of time, stops and costs didn't fit the bill for us and we felt that many others felt the same way, too,” Mr Martin says.
The co-founders initially started with a simple bus-pooling app to solve their problem and steadily transformed it into a connected suite of products to help small and large-fleet operators run their businesses better.
Since then, the start-up has developed different products to run their operations, including a mobile application to help passengers and drivers to track transport, as well as a dashboard for operators to run and schedule buses. Companies that hire buses to transport their employees can also monitor and manage the movement of vehicles through the dashboard.
Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, demand for Arcab's services has increased as companies focus on transporting their employees safely from their homes to work and vice versa, Mr Shabandri says.
“The pandemic presented a blow to many of the bus-related apps in particular, which had, before the pandemic, been one of the fastest-growing segments in mobility,” he says.
“However, for us, despite the shift in place of work, we saw that businesses were increasingly looking for high-capacity, private, sanitised vehicles to avoid the risk of infection for their employees who would have to otherwise travel in unregulated or overcrowded modes of transit.”
On the supply side, operators were trying to figure out how they could come up with innovative business models and drive towards profitable growth.
“As such, we saw a boost with fleet operators leveraging our technology to increase vehicle utilisation and profit margins as opposed to procuring new assets. This was a win-win for us and other operators on the platform,” Mr Shabandri says.
As demand for its services grew, the company’s revenue jumped 22 per cent per month and the business, which is part of Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 and the Dubai Future Accelerators programme, is now looking to expand to Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, in the coming months.
“We are quite optimistic about the massive opportunity across emerging markets, especially in this region. There is an increasing demand from corporates and fleet operators globally as they move towards initiatives that allow them to operate more efficiently and profitably,” Mr Shabandri says.
Arcab, which previously raised capital through angel investors and grants from UAE-based entities, is currently in the process of closing a seven-figure funding round involving angel investors and venture capital firms from the region.
“Our current focus is to on-board 600-plus transport companies authorised to provide transport by entities such as the Roads and Transport Authority. We are also looking forward to replicating our success and improving millions of daily commutes in other regions within the Middle East,” says Mr Shabandri.
The total funding secured by start-ups in the Mena region rose by 64 per cent in the first half of the year as economies continued to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Funding for Mena start-ups during the period was $1.2 billion, more than the $1.09bn raised last year, according to the latest report from data platform Magnitt.
Q&A with Bilal Shabandri, co-founder and chief executive of Arcab
What successful start-ups do you wish you could have started?
A start-up I’ve come to admire the most is Shopify. They’ve not only managed to create an amazing tool that democratises the ability to create an e-commerce website, but also ventured into a complementary range of services from emailing, shipping, third-party apps and even financial services. I am excited to see what more they can do with something that started out so simple.
What is your vision for Arcab?
I think we’re at this phase where the movement of people and things is transforming at full speed. With apps and delivery for everything you can imagine, we are looking at ways by which we can move people and things in the most efficient way possible. The obvious answer is mass transit, moving them together, but I believe that we can take something that is archaic and then revolutionise it for the modern world. At the end of the day for us, it's all about building a sustainable business that every partner who works with us loves being a part of.
Where do you see yourself and Arcab in five years?
We’re just getting started and in the next five years, hope to be a leader in aggregating millions of vehicles and putting them to use in different ways for making moving together possible and to empower the operators we work with. In five years, we would have mastered and maximised utilisation of traditional assets. As for me personally, I am really passionate about the problem we are solving and I would love to continually attract the best talent to work with us while creating a fantastic work culture.
What new skills have you learnt in the process of setting up Arcab?
With the talented team that I am surrounded with, I am constantly in a learning mode. My view is that running your own business teaches you much more than a formal education or a regular job. It is akin to a real-life, accelerated master’s degree in business administration programme, but much better since you actually are able to apply learning and test it in the market. I had to learn about and become an expert at fund-raising. To do this, I had to improve my pitching and communication skills, expand my network for warm introductions and have a full understanding of the venture capital process and start-up lingo so that we could attract the right investors, partners and talent. Being a founder and chief executive is a massive responsibility, but it is extremely rewarding and humbling.
Company profile:
Name: Arcab
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2019
Number of employees: 14
Sector: transport
Funding: the company is currently in the process of closing a seven-figure funding round involving angel investors and venture capital firms from the region
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
BOSH!'s pantry essentials
Nutritional yeast
This is Firth's pick and an ingredient he says, "gives you an instant cheesy flavour". He advises making your own cream cheese with it or simply using it to whip up a mac and cheese or wholesome lasagne. It's available in organic and specialist grocery stores across the UAE.
Seeds
"We've got a big jar of mixed seeds in our kitchen," Theasby explains. "That's what you use to make a bolognese or pie or salad: just grab a handful of seeds and sprinkle them over the top. It's a really good way to make sure you're getting your omegas."
Umami flavours
"I could say soya sauce, but I'll say all umami-makers and have them in the same batch," says Firth. He suggests having items such as Marmite, balsamic vinegar and other general, dark, umami-tasting products in your cupboard "to make your bolognese a little bit more 'umptious'".
Onions and garlic
"If you've got them, you can cook basically anything from that base," says Theasby. "These ingredients are so prevalent in every world cuisine and if you've got them in your cupboard, then you know you've got the foundation of a really nice meal."
Your grain of choice
Whether rice, quinoa, pasta or buckwheat, Firth advises always having a stock of your favourite grains in the cupboard. "That you, you have an instant meal and all you have to do is just chuck a bit of veg in."
MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Race card
4pm Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m
5.10pm Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections:
4pm Zabardast
4.35pm Ibn Malik
5.10pm Space Blues
5.45pm Kimbear
6.20pm Barney Roy
6.55pm Matterhorn
7.30pm Defoe
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Honeymoonish
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Sunday's Super Four matches
Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan
Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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RACE CARD
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m
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6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
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Amith's selections:
5pm: AF Sail
5.30pm: Dahawi
6pm: Taajer
6.30pm: Pharitz Oubai
7pm: Winked
7.30pm: Shahm
8pm: Raniah
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Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
