Egypt’s SWVL Boosts Global Expansion with The Acquisition of Mexican Urbvan

Egypt’s mobility startup SWVL has continued with its acquisition spree across the globe with an announcement that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Mexico-based Urbvan Mobility Ltd (“Urbvan”), a shared mobility platform that provides tech-enabled transportation services to Latin America’s second-largest country by population.

Swvl offers intercity, intracity, B2B and B2G transportation across 135 cities in 20 countries. The Company’s platform provides complimentary semi-private alternatives to public transportation for individuals who cannot access or afford private options.

“We are excited to partner with Swvl as we work to illustrate best practices for tech-optimized day-to-day travel in Mexico. This transaction positions Urbvan to leverage Swvl’s global offerings to scale the platform both within the region and beyond. We look forward to using our combined capabilities to provide safe, efficient, and affordable shared mobility options across the world,” Renato Picard, Urbvan Co-Founder and Co-CEO said.

With its easy to use mobility app, Swvl provides private vehicles, including buses and vans powered by varied payment options.

On the other hand, Urbvan provides tech-enabled transportation services that aim to improve both qualities of life and safety standards of bus travel across vast geographical distances. Integrating mobility patterns with a shared vehicle aggregator platform, Swvl’s acquisition of Urbvan provides an excellent opportunity to accelerate Swvl’s mission to provide safer, faster, smarter, and more affordable mass transport for everyone no matter where they live.

Founded in 2016, UrbVan operates in 18 cities across Mexico with solutions for urban routes, intercity routes, for private organizations and for private on-demand needs. What the two companies have in common is their commitment to provide affordable, efficient transportation options free of harassment and other unsafe conditions.

“Urbvan was founded on the same principles as Swvl: to address the inefficiencies found in traditional mass transit in many parts of the world. With a significant footprint in Mexico, an impressive suite of Transport as a Service (TaaS) offerings, and strong relationships with local government players, this acquisition reinforces Swvl’s position as a leading provider of safer and more reliable mobility solutions which are required for vulnerable people living in densely populated, challenging markets with vast geographies,” Mostafa Kandil, Swvl Founder and CEO, said.

For Swvl, UrbVan’s acquisition is a big addition to its goal to increase its global footprint to 135 cities in 20 countries.

The company acquired Viapool in 2021 to expand its market into Argentina and Chile. In April 2022, it did a double – acquiring Volt lines to penetrate the Turkish market and also reached an agreement a few days later to acquire UK-based mobility startup, Zeelo for $100 million.

Urbvan offers a complimentary suite of TaaS mobility solutions with high growth potential. The company has over 450,000 registered users and over 9m tickets sold to date and a B2B client base of over 80 organizations, including large multinational companies.

With focus on densely populated areas, UrbVan has 27 anchor routes in México City. The company has recorded 138% revenue CAGR since 2017.

“The acquisition of Urbvan contributes towards all the key objectives of our recently announced portfolio optimization plan: opportunity to enhance margins, turn cash flow positive in 2023, focus on high profitability segments TaaS and SaaS, expand in higher ticket fare markets and extract more value from our proprietary technology stack. Today’s announcement reinforces Swvl’s commitment to back regional champions in the mobility space,” Youssef Salem, Swvl CFO said.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in Q3 2022.