Running low on gas? This app will 'fuel' you

Dubai - Cafu aims to make people's lives more efficient by leveraging technology and innovation

The next time you are short on fuel and on the road, don't panic; your fuel supply is just a click away from your smart phone. The Middle East region's first app - Cafu - catering to the oil and gas industry, is now gaining momentum in the UAE.
Rashid Al Ghurair, chief executive officer at Mena Energy Ventures and the investor, said: "I am very proud to say that I belong to a country where our leaders believe in innovation as a way of life and in the capability of ambitious young talent who aspire to be leaders in their field just the way the UAE government aspire to be among the top countries in the world. This is what inspired me to come up with such an idea that will ease the process of fuelling cars today. Our on-demand fuel delivery application [Cafu] is meant to reach you wherever you are and will evolve to include other services in the near future. We believe that our technology will grow in the region and beyond."
Al Ghurair has been very passionate about the oil and gas sector, working in the field for the last 10 years. In addition to that, he is very avid on technology initiatives especially the ones related to solving local problems in the UAE.
"The objective of Cafu is to make people's lives more efficient by leveraging technology and innovation. We are relentlessly working to provide our community with smart ways of living that will allow them to spend more times doing things that they like. We have been operational since November 2018 with more than 30,000 registered users to date. We have 30 operational trucks with 80 trucks to be ready by February," added Al Ghurair.
The Dh100 million technology startup is self-funded, Al Ghurair said: "We provide a lot of flexibility whereby unlike many of our competitors we do not need to invest energy in securing funding or pleasing our investors rather we can focus on the things that matter the most our safety, operations and customers."
The chief executive officer explains that the key difference of Cafu versus its competitors is that they were the first UAE-based app that focuses on solving a problem purely related to the region.
"We are combining innovation by leveraging our local expertise with best practice from international markets along with our technology and operations capabilities. By the end of 2019 we are looking to be present in all seven emirates in the UAE, serving indoor and outdoor locations. In addition to that, we are targeting to launch a couple of value adding services such as car wash, tyre change, oil change, etc," added Al Ghurair.
Since its launch, the app's feedback received overwhelming positive response and has served more than 15,000 orders.
"Fortunately for us - unfortunately for our customers - the retail fuel sector is one of the few sectors globally that has not been impacted by the global tech revolution. In the past 100 years filling has been done in the same way with limited innovation. We are still in our minimum viable product stage however our growth has been solid mainly driven by a clear market need for such innovation in the sector," said Al Ghurair.
The venture's current strategy is to have as many users to try their service - that's why the first order is free - and once the consumers experience the quality service and benefits they will be hooked on to the application.
Antonio Al Asmar, head of operations at Mena Energy Ventures, said: "Cafu is the region's first on-demand fuel delivery app. I am excited to be part of this venture as we are bringing world class service that redesigns the whole refuelling process making it simple, safe and convenient."
Cafu is looking at leveraging AI and machine learning to create a seamless customer experience and fully optimise their operations. New innovative features like vaporless indoor trucks and boats will be tapped in future.
- sandhya@khaleejtimes.com