Riyadh -- Popular ride-hailing app service Careem was hit by a cyber attack that compromised the data of 14 million users, it said on Monday.

The breach affects all customers and captains (drivers) who signed up with the service before January 14, 2018, it said. Users who signed up with the service after that date have not been affected, Careem said in a statement.

Names, email addresses, phone numbers and trip data were stolen, though there was no evidence that passwords or credit card information - held on external third-party servers - were compromised, it said.

At the time of the attack, Careem had 14 million customers and 558,000 drivers on its platform operating in 78 cities across the region, a company spokesman said.

Careem said in a blog post on Monday that it became aware of the hack on Jan. 14 and that it affected "computer systems which hold customer and captain account data."

However, it could not give a clear answer why it was informing its clients now when the breach took place in January.

The company, one of the region’s most prominent start-ups, apologized to its users, saying it “has learned from this experience and will come out of it a stronger and more resilient organization”.

Careem, founded in 2012, already counts Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding, German carmaker Daimler and Chinese ride-hailer DiDi Chuxing among its investors.

The company has previously said it is targeting profitability in the second half of 2018. It has also said that an initial public offering is an option under consideration. -- Agencies