- The African firm which provides shared transportation services for both intracity and intercity movement acquired the Turkish firm at around US$40 million
- Swvl currently repurposes underutilized, privately owned buses or minivans for different purposes throughout the day
- Swvl said the acquisition of Volt Lines would add an incremental US$4.3 million of annualized revenue to its balance sheet
Egyptian startup Swvl has expanded into Turkey after it recently acquired B2B transportation-as-a service operator Volt Lines.
The African firm which provides shared transportation services for both intracity and intercity movement acquired the Turkish firm at around US$40 million.
The acquisition now gives Swvl access to Volt Line’s tech as well as over 110 corporate client contracts.
Swvl currently repurposes underutilized, privately owned buses or minivans for different purposes throughout the day.
Some of these include shuttling intercity commuters along fixed routes, providing rides between cities and driving corporate employees to work or meetings.
On the other hand, Volt provides its 110 corporate clients and their employees with a cost-effective alternative to public transportation or ride-hailing via its own network of smart routed shared buses.
The firm has currently committed to running 100% of its network on electric buses powered by renewable energy by 2030.
Swvl said the acquisition of Volt Lines would add an incremental US$4.3 million of annualized revenue to its balance sheet.
The acquisition, which will see Volt Lines’ team hired by Swvl, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
Volt Lines is Swvl’s fourth acquisition since last August that has helped the company expand both its product and its geographic markets beyond UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kenya and Pakistan.
Last year the Egyptian startup acquired mass transit Viapool to expand its operations into Chile and Argentina.
The firm also took over an on-demand shuttle booking platform in Spain known as Shoti giving the firm access to the European market.
Swvl has also announced plans to buy Berlin-based mobility startup Door2door.
This means the company now operates in 115 cities across 18 countries and four continents.
Swvl CEO Mostafa Kandil said the firm intends to operate in 20 countries on five continents, including North America, by 2025.
The company plans to expand into several countries over the next six months, including Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, and the U.S.
Swvl making giant strides
The mass transit and shared mobility provider has been making significant moves over the past year alone.
Swvl went public in March in a landmark moment for Egyptian and Middle Eastern tech ecosystems.
This made Swvl the first company launched from Africa and the second Middle Eastern company to list on the Nasdaq via a special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) merger.
The Egypt-born and Dubai-based company listed its shares at $10 on the Nasdaq through a merger with U.S. women-led blank check company Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital.
The merger which was announced last July will see Swvl offer 20-30% of its total shares.
Following closing, the combined company, “Swvl Holding Corp,” initially traded under GMBT and GMBTW before switching to SWVL and SWVLW.
Swvl raised US$121.5 million in private investment in public equities (PIPE) for the merger.
Some of the firm’s investors include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Teklas Ventures, Chimera, Agility, and Luxor Capital Group.
The company is currently valued at US$1.5 billion.
Following the listing, the mobility company is currently the largest African unicorn debut on any U.S.-listed exchange, beating Jumia’s debut of US$1.1 billion on the NYSE.
The Egyptian firm was founded by Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah back in 2017.
The three founders started the firm as a bus-hailing service in Egypt and other ride-sharing services in emerging markets with fragmented public transportation.
Swvl’s annual gross revenue stood at US$26 million in 2020 and is expected to reach US$1 billion by 2025 after completing its expansion plans across five continents.
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