Swvl, ride-sharing startup, becomes first $1.5bn unicorn from the Middle East to list on Nasdaq 

Swvl Inc., a Dubai-based provider of transformative mass transit and shared mobility solutions, and Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, the first special purpose acquisition company led by women, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination that would result in Swvl becoming a publicly listed company. Upon completion of the proposed transaction, the combined public company will be named Swvl Holdings Corp and is expected to be listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “SWVL”.

Market Opportunity 

Swvl, co-founded by Mostafa Kandil in 2017 when he was just 24 years old, is transforming the $1 trillion global mass transit market. The Company’s proprietary mobility solutions, powered by cutting-edge technology, are helping to solve mass transit supply and demand challenges in unchartered, emerging markets – empowering massively underserved communities with transportation solutions that are reliable, convenient, safe, and affordable.

Featuring diversified transit offerings that, in just a few short years, have evolved from daily commuting to inter-city retail travel, to Transport as a Service (“TaaS”) offerings for businesses, schools, universities and other critical service organizations, Swvl is poised to take the next step in its evolution. With clear strategic direction, a proven management team and demonstrated business model, Swvl is ideally situated for existing and new market expansion.

Mostafa Kandil, Swvl Founder and CEO, commented: “Mass transit systems in cities around the world are riddled with deficiencies, resulting in congestion, environmental concerns and reduced productivity. In certain emerging market cities, commuter round-trip wait times are often greater than 40 minutes and, in one major city, upwards of 80% of women reported that they have experienced harassment on public transport. Even in developed markets, the societal cost imposed by a lack of mass transit solutions can be staggering.  In the United States, for instance, the annual cost of traffic is estimated to be $88 billion, and in many parts of the world current alternatives to mass transit are prohibitively expensive. 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.”

Established Leadership Position   

In just four years, 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. Swvl’s established user base has a track record of loyalty, with more than 20% of inter-city riders opting to use multiple platform offerings. Further, the Company empowers drivers in emerging markets – who frequently experience income uncertainty from existing mass transit operations – to earn approximately double that of other ride-sharing platforms. With its TaaS offerings, Swvl has already enabled more than 100 organizations around the world to reduce costs through dynamic routing, network planning, demand estimation, fleet optimization, and other leading transit services.

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. In doing so, we will create even greater value for all stakeholders and continue innovating best-in-class technology solutions that improve the universal, daily struggle of mobility for so many.”

Partnership with Queen’s Gambit

In alignment with Queen’s Gambit, Swvl is a mission-driven company that is focused on removing barriers to social and economic opportunity, while reducing the carbon footprint of megacities through its offerings. The combined Company will draw upon Queen’s Gambit’s distinguished team of highly successful women, each of whom are at the forefront of their respective industries, have deep investment experience, and boast proven track records of successful ventures at public companies and in governance roles.

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 leading 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. As such, Swvl believes there may be opportunities for strategic and operational collaboration with Agility and Zain, which could accelerate its global expansion, increase user engagement and expand its SaaS/TaaS client base. 

HH Sheikh Mohammed congratulated CEO Mostafa Kandil on the Nasdaq listing of UAE-based Swvl.