Swvl, a Dubai-based provider of transformative mass transit and shared mobility solutions, has announced an agreement which is likely to lead to it listing on Nasdaq.
The business combination deal with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, the first special purpose acquisition company led by women, will result in Swvl becoming a publicly listed company.
Swvl, co-founded by Mostafa Kandil in 2017 when he was just 24 years old, is transforming the $1 trillion global mass transit market.
With an implied, fully diluted equity value of approximately $1.5 billion, Swvl is expected to be the first $1bn plus unicorn from the Middle East to list on Nasdaq.
The company said its proprietary mobility solutions are helping to solve mass transit supply and demand challenges in unchartered, emerging markets.
Kandil (pictured below), Swvl founder and CEO, said: “Mass transit systems in cities around the world are riddled with deficiencies, resulting in congestion, environmental concerns and reduced productivity. To address these problems, we founded Swvl with a simple but ambitious goal – to empower all people to go where they want to, when they want to, and to feel comfortable doing it.”
In just four years, he said Swvl has become the industry leader in mass-transit across 10 cities in Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Swvl’s gross revenues and markets have grown rapidly, with more than 1.4 million riders booking more than 46 million rides to date with thousands of drivers on Swvl’s platform.
Kandil added: “We have succeeded in executing our business plan in some of the most challenging emerging markets, where inefficiencies in infrastructure and related mass-transit systems represent a universal problem, and have now reached a critical inflection point where we are ready to share our expertise and technology with the rest of the world.
“Queen’s Gambit is an ideal partner, who shares our core values and is committed to helping accelerate Swvl’s long-term growth plans. With their partnership, as a public company, we will expand our daily commuting offerings and enterprise TaaS services that remove barriers to seamless mobility for the populations that need it most.”
Agility, a global supply chain leader operating in many of Swvl’s key markets, has made a significant capital commitment in Queen’s Gambit and the combined company.
In addition, Zain, a mobile voice and data services operator with nearly 50 million active customers across many of Swvl’s current markets, has invested in the combined company.
Victoria Grace, Queen’s Gambit founder and CEO, said: “We will bring to bear the collective financial and operational expertise of the Queen’s Gambit platform, for the benefit of Swvl and the communities that it serves, and believe this combination will serve as a catalyst for massive growth at scale.
“We are grateful for the tremendous support received from a host of investors. We believe the proposed transaction terms allow investors to enjoy a substantial discount to Swvl’s intrinsic value and multiples, as compared to key comparables.”
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