Swvl, an Egyptian startup that provides shared transportation services for intercity and intracity trips, has expanded into Turkey with its recent acquisition of Volt Lines, a B2B transportation-as-a-service operator.
The primarily stock deal, which was valued at around $40 million, gives Swvl access both to Volt Lines’ tech as well as its over 110 corporate client contracts. This reach will help Swvl build out its corporate offerings while also getting a foothold in Turkey so it can expand its B2C service, as well as adjacent transportation solutions including schools and factories, the company says.
Swvl’s main business model involves repurposing underutilized, privately owned buses or minivans for different purposes throughout the day, such as shuttling intercity commuters along fixed routes, providing rides between cities and driving corporate employees to work or meetings.
Volt provides corporate clients, like ICBC, MetLife and Axa Insurance, and their employees with a cost-effective alternative to public transportation or ride-hailing via its own network of smart routed shared buses. The company has committed to running 100% of its network on electric buses powered by renewable energy by 2030.
Swvl, which joined the public markets through a special purpose acquisition merger about a month ago, said its purchase of Volt Lines would add an incremental $4.3 million of annualized revenue to its balance sheet. The acquisition, which will see Volt Lines’ team hired by Swvl, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
Volt Lines is Swvl’s fourth acquisition since August that has helped the company expand both its product and its geographic markets beyond UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kenya and Pakistan. Last year Swvl acquired another mass transit platform, Viapool, to expand into Argentina and Chile, as well as Spain-based Shotl, an on-demand shuttle booking platform, allowed the company to enter Europe. More recently, Swvl announced its intention to buy Berlin-based mobility startup Door2door. The company says it now operates in 115 cities across 18 countries and four continents.
Mostafa Kandil, CEO and founder of Swvl, previously told TechCrunch it intends to operate in 20 countries on five continents, including North America, by 2025, so we might expect more acquisitions in the coming months.