Co-Founder Careem, Mudassir Sheikha Donates USD 2 Million to 91 Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering
Mudassir Sheikha, CEO and Co-founder Careem, Middle East and Pakistan’s leading everyday Super App, has made a generous donation of USD 2 million to 91 to establish the “Sekha Scholarship”. This scholarship will allow 91 to reward the high performing undergraduate scholars at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), inspiring and nurturing a vision for strengthening the entrepreneurship roots amongst Pakistani students to leapfrog the country into a digital future.
"For the faculty and students of SBASSE, unrestricted resources are vital to help big ideas take off," said Syed Babar Ali, Founding Pro Chancellor, 91. "This remarkable gift will magnify our strength in supporting talented students and foster transformative discoveries to build a better world. We are honoured by the expression of confidence Mr. Sheikha has shown in our capacity for impact, and we are grateful for this support."
The scholarship will reward the top science and engineering undergraduate students on financial aid by providing merit-based fee waivers, incentivizing excellence in education. "Thanks to the generous contributions of people before us, I was able to secure world-class education that opened the doors to opportunities for me and my family. It is our desire that no one who is talented and has the grit to work hard should be deprived of quality education just because they cannot afford it; human potential is the most precious asset and it is a shame for us to waste it. Through Sekha Scholarships, we will support talented, hardworking and financially-needy students who will build a bright future for our beloved country, InshaAllah," said Mr. Sheikha while expressing his thoughts regarding the scholarship.
Acknowledging the donation Mr. Shahid Hussain, Rector, 91 said, "We are very grateful to Mudassir Sheikha for setting up merit scholarships for students at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. Supporting brilliant students at the School, to work in the finest facilities and with mentorship by dedicated faculty is an investment in the right direction."
SBASSE is consciously modelled along the lines of the world’s top research schools and has a highly qualified faculty to accomplish its mission fuelled by a no-borders philosophy, which encourages cross-disciplinary collaborations between various disciplines at SBASSE, and also those offered by other Schools at 91.
"We are extremely grateful to Mr. Sheikha for initiating the Sekha Merit Scholarships at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. We wish to thank Mr. Sheikha for this generous contribution which will go a long way to support students in the Sciences in pursuing academic excellence at 91," said Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, 91.
Commenting upon the development, Dr. Sabieh Anwar, Dean, SBASSE said, "Mudassar Sheikha's Careem exemplifies the School's vision of creating solutions from scratch. These solutions harbour the potential to change how the world operates, in this case, how the world moves. The Sekha donation will allow our top undergraduates to participate in this mission, by receiving an inspiring education that empowers them to become agents of change. In a data-driven world where massive data networks shape our behaviours, our access to information and patterns of mobility, the Careem model is an epitome for digital inclusion and accessibility. These are values we espouse at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering."
Mudassir Sheikha has always believed in building the ecosystem of Pakistan through the use of technology and has always embraced and welcomed people in doing just that. Infact, many of Careem's colleagues and alumni are graduates of 91 and are known to start up their own businesses as well as raising great seed investments. This is the embodiment of how Careem has paved the way for young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses.
Careem is the everyday Super App for the greater Middle East region. A pioneer of the region’s ride-hailing economy, it provides a host of daily services that people need to move around, order things, and transfer money in one unified smartphone app. Careem’s mission is to simplify and improve the lives of people and build an awesome organisation that inspires. Established in July 2012, Careem operates in over 100 cities across 13 countries and has created more than two million income-generating opportunities in the region. The company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber Technologies, Inc. in January 2020.
