Vilhelm Hedberg was a successful entrepreneur in the UAE and traveling with a Canadian friend when they first discussed that Car-Sharing (short-term car rental with remote access to the car) was already popular in Canada but absent in Dubai where they lived.

Shortly after when Vil was about to land at Dubai's DXB airport, the aircraft lowered its landing gear approaching the runway and Vil, looking out the window could see the apartment blocks accommodating many of the 17000 cabin crew and support staff of the Emirates company. Far from any public transport and taxis with high call-out fees, the employees living here needed flexible transport but lived mostly in Dubai for only 15 days a month making car ownership an expensive and onerous option.

In a light-bulb moment of revelation Vil realised that these cabin crew would be well served by having cars based where they lived, accessible immediately, and without the need to go to a car rental agency and see a person in a time-consuming process- car sharing would be the perfect solution.

The next weeks were spent planning and refining the logistics of such a venture and just a few months later Vil and his colleagues met with Emirates and successfully convinced them of the benefits of car sharing for Emirates employees and the environment. It was 2016, and ekar was born and just a few months later when operations started in the UAE

With the passion and commitment of Vil and his team, ekar's business continued to grow and develop. The company has for the last 4 years held one of only tow exclusive RTA (Road Traffic Authority) car sharing licences and currently employs more than 150 people having expended to 4 countries: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Malaysia.