Egyptian Swvl to acquire UK-based Zeelo for $100 million; sets launchpad to enter into UK, USA and South Africa

Egyptian Swvl announced that it has entered an agreement to acquire UK-based mobility startup, Zeelo for $100 million. This is coming days after it announced its entry into Turkey with the acquisition of Volt Lines, a Turkey-based B2B, and Transport as a Service mobility startup.

The acquisition builds on Swvl’s recent acquisitions of controlling stakes in Shotl and Viapool, and the pending acquisition of door2door.

Zeelo is the UK’s largest smart bus platform and technology scale-up, measured by bookings. Headquartered in London with over 160 employees, an R&D team in Spain and live operations in the UK, South Africa and the US, it was founded in 2016 by Sam Ryan, Barney Williams and Dani Ruiz. Zeelo is a smart bus platform for organizations, serving large businesses and independent schools and moving nearly 150,000 riders each month across the world.

Zeelo’s services model includes a driving accreditation school, contracted fleets, and proprietary technology including a SaaS platform and multiple customer apps, which leverage smart GPS route optimization and ride-sharing software.

Mostafa Kandil, Swvl Founder and CEO, said, “Swvl was founded on the belief that accessible transportation is essential to unlocking economic opportunity. Swvl and Zeelo share a vision and mission to provide reliable transportation that gets riders where they need to go in an affordable, safe, and environmentally-friendly manner. With an impressive suite of turnkey TaaS and SaaS solutions and an established footprint in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States, Zeelo rapidly advances our leading market position as a provider of technology-enabled mass transit solutions on a global scale.”

Sam Ryan, Zeelo Founder and CEO, said, “Swvl is revolutionizing the mass transit industry and we are thrilled to join forces with them on this next phase of Zeelo’s journey to firmly establish smart bus transport as the best-in-class shared mobility solution that takes account of all income levels and the needs of ordinary, every-day travelers. Bus transport done well with tech can take us beyond our dependency on cars and taxis which are not suitable for commutes from non-urban areas. We look forward to bringing Swvl insights from Zeelo’s strategic pivot during the global pandemic and we’ve been impressed by Swvl’s fast growth in challenging markets. We are excited to leverage their global experience as we embark on a shared journey to develop safe, affordable, and low emission mass transportation options, and expand economic opportunity for the people who need it most through our mobility solution. Especially shift workers, professionals and students living in transport-poor areas in the developed markets.”

Youssef Salem, Swvl CFO, said, “The acquisition of Zeelo offers Swvl a superb entry point into the US and South Africa, extends our position in the UK, and provides a complementary suite of new mobility products. Combined with our past acquisitions and announced acquisitions, today’s announcement further demonstrates our ability to utilize our growth capital and public currency to pursue organic and inorganic strategic initiatives. We look forward to capitalizing on the numerous opportunities provided by this transaction to advance our market position as a provider of technology-enabled mass transit solutions on a global scale.”