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Swvl Gets Listed on NASDAQ Stock Market in New York
SWVL, our member just got listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market in New York. SWVL is the second company in our community to get listed on NASDAQ after Mdundo got to cover the same milestone in 2020.
Swvl a Mass transit and shared mobility provider has gone public in a landmark moment for Egyptian and Middle Eastern tech ecosystems.
Swvl which is Egypt-born and Dubai-based company has 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 planned merger, which will see the company offer 20-30% of its total shares, was first announced in July 2021.
Following closing, the combined company will trade under SWVL and SWVLW from April 1.
The company now becomes the first launched from Africa and the second Middle Eastern company to list on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger.
Anghami, an Abu Dhabi-based music streaming platform, did so in February when it listed with Vistas Media Acquisition at a $220 million valuation.
The company also raised $121.5 million in private investment in public equities (PIPE) for this transaction. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Teklas Ventures, Chimera, Agility, and Luxor Capital Group are some of its other investors. The company is currently valued at $1.5 billion.
The mass transit company was founded by Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah in 2017. The trio started the company as a bus-hailing service in Egypt and other ride-sharing services in emerging markets with fragmented public transportation.
Its bus-hailing services enable users to make intra-state journeys by booking seats on buses running a fixed route.
The company offerings have expanded beyond bus-hailing services, though. Now, the company offers inter-city rides, car ride-sharing, and corporate services in the 10 cities it operates in across Africa and the Middle East.
The partnership between the mass transit company and Queen’s Gambit came from a mutual interest from both parties.
While searching for a company to acquire, Swvl fit the blank-check company’s criteria: strong business fundamentals, mobility and logistics (one of its core verticals), and an ESG ethos around women and affordable transportation.
On the other hand, Swvl — off the back of raising over $170 million in venture capital, expanding to over 16 countries across Latin America, Asia and Africa; hiring executives from Facebook, Uber and Optimus; and acquiring Shotl, Viapool and door2door — was on a quest for global dominance in the mobility space.
A SPAC with Queen’s Gambit was the most suitable option for it from a financial standpoint, and both parties feel strongly about the sustainability angle around transport — Swvl claims it has prevented approximately 289 million pounds of carbon emissions since its inception.
The company plans to expand into several countries over the next six months, including Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, and the U.S.
In the meantime, all eyes will be on the company’s performance as it officially starts trading tomorrow in a cooling SPAC market and a generally unsettled public market.
In Kenya, SWVL operates fro Nairobi Garage// Westlands. Over the years, Swvl has also helped to enhance the safety of commuters as there is a digital record of where a commuter boarded and alighted the bus.
This has assisted them to attract a large number of commuters, with more than 50% of daily commuters being women.
Swvl has also continued to expand its Swvl Travel offering and plies routes to over 10 destinations with plans to expand further.
The most popular routes are Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisii, Kisumu, Eldoret, Meru, Nyeri, Nanyuki and Kakamega. Swvl Travel offers both premium and Economy services.
To date, SWVL Travel has transported over 50,000 unique customers to and from their travel destinations, completing over 25,000 rides.
The company also transports over 5,000 individuals to and from work on a daily basis, as part of Swvl Business through which organizations can enlist Swvl for their corporate travel needs.
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This is geared towards enabling the achievement of a 24-hour economy as envisioned in Kenya’s Vision 2030 agenda.
The company has 100 people directly employed in Kenya, and work with over 500 bus owners that have partnered with Swvl.
On the daily commuter rides, Swvl covers 300 routes to over 55 destinations which provide commuters with direct rides to the CBD, Upperhill and Westlands.
Swvl has also increased the number of routes available to enable more passengers to book trips to their desired destinations. These routes include Utawala to CBD, Joska to Westlands, Ongata Rongai to Westlands and, Kiserian to CBD and Westlands.
