Dubai’s Swvl completes $35.5m pre-funding to accelerate growth

Swvl, a Dubai-based provider of transformative mass transit and shared mobility solutions has completed the pre-funding of $35.5m of the aggregate PIPE subscription.

Several investors, including Agility and Chimera Abu Dhabi, have pre-funded the transaction. The subscription is being raised in connection with Swvl’s proposed business combination with Queens Gambit Growth Capital.

Swvl is executing a growth strategy to realise approximately $1bn of annual gross revenue and expand to more than 30 cities in more than 20 countries by 2025. The proceeds are aimed to accelerate the expansion and further Swvl’s investment in its proprietary technology platform, a statement said.

The investors that pre-funded the PIPE have purchased exchangeable notes of Swvl, according to the subscription agreements. At the closing of Swvl’s business combination with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, each exchangeable note will be automatically exchanged for shares of the combined company at an exchange price of $8.50 per share. Upon the issuance of the exchangeable notes, the amount of each note investor’s subscription in the PIPE was reduced by the purchase price of such investor’s exchangeable note.

Mostafa Kandil, Swvl founder and CEO, said: “We greatly appreciate that many highly regarded global investors have clear confidence in our growth strategy. With this immediate infusion of growth capital, we are even better positioned to bring our transformative daily commuting, inter-city retail travel and TaaS offerings to new markets. Each and every day we are advancing our mission to reinvent the $1 trillion mass transit industry with tech-enabled solutions.”

“We have already witnessed the disruptive power of Swvl’s parallel mass transit platform in many of our largest markets,” noted Tarek Sultan, vice chairman of Agility. “After getting to know their team better over the past few months, we have full confidence in their ability to solve complex mobility challenges. We are excited to accelerate Swvl’s global expansion with this funding, and look forward to exploring compelling opportunities for strategic and operational collaboration moving forward.”

Swvl recently announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Shotl, a Barcelona-based mass transit platform that partners with municipalities and corporations to provide on-demand bus and van services across Europe, APAC, and LATAM.

Read: Dubai’s Swvl to enter Europe, APAC and LATAM via Shotl acquisition

The acquisition will facilitate Swvl’s entry into Europe more than one year ahead of schedule. Further, Swvl intends to utilise the pre-funded PIPE proceeds to expedite the availability of its transformative mass transit solutions in other emerging market cities across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the statement added.

Swvl has built a parallel mass transit system offering intercity, intracity, B2B and B2G transportation in 10 megacities across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Customers can book their rides on an app with varied payment options and access private buses and vans that operate according to fixed routes, stations, times, and prices.