With the recent purchase of Volt Lines, a B2B transportation-as-a-service operator, Swvl, an Egyptian company that provides shared transportation services for intercity and intracity travel, has moved into Turkey. Swvl gains access to Volt Lines’ technology as well as its more than 110 corporate customer contracts as part of the largely stock purchase, which is valued at roughly $40 million. Swvl believes this reach will enable it to extend its corporate products while also gaining a footing in Turkey, allowing it to develop its B2C service and adjacent transportation options, such as schools and industries.
Swvl’s core business strategy entails repurposing underused, privately owned buses or minivans for various reasons throughout the day, including transferring intercity commuters along defined routes, giving transportation between cities, and transporting corporate personnel to work or meetings. Volt’s own network of smart routed shared buses gives corporate clients including ICBC, MetLife, and Axa Insurance, as well as their workers, a cost-effective alternative to public transit or ride-hailing. By 2030, the business has pledged to run its whole network on electric buses powered by renewable energy.
Swvl claimed its purchase of Volt Lines will bring $4.3 million in yearly revenue to its balance sheet. Swvl went public approximately a month ago through a special purpose acquisition merger. The deal, which will see Swvl hire the Volt Lines staff, is slated to finalize in the second quarter of 2022. Swvl has made four acquisitions since August, all of which have helped the firm extend its product and geographic markets outside the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kenya, and Pakistan. Swvl bought Viapool, a mass transportation network located in Argentina and Chile, as well as Shotl, an on-demand shuttle booking platform based in Spain, last year to expand into Europe.
Swvl has announced plans to purchase Berlin-based mobility firm Door2door. According to the firm, it currently has 115 locations across 18 countries and four continents. Swvl’s CEO and founder, Mostafa Kandil, recently told TechCrunch that the company plans to operate in 20 countries across five continents by 2025, including North America, so anticipate additional acquisitions in the coming months.
