Egyptian transport start-up Swvl plans IPO in 5-10 years

Egyptian transport technology start-up Swvl is planning an initial public offering on one of the stock exchanges in five to ten years, its chief executive told Amwal Al Ghad.

The company, which operates buses along fixed routes and allows customers to reserve and pay for them using an app, may go for listing on the Egyptian stock exchange given Fawry’s successful IPO, Mostafa Kandil said.

Since its launch in April 2017, Swvl has secured the biggest round of funding for a tech start-up in Egypt.

“We were a company worth about $2 million two years ago and our paid-up capital is now $80 million,” Kandil told Reuters.

The Cairo-based firm is due to move its headquarters to Dubai in November. It had launched in Nairobi about six months ago and began operations in Lahore in July.

Kandil and two other young Egyptian co-founders, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah, currently own more than 30 percent of Swvl.

The rest is held by 17 investment funds, including U.S.-based Autotech Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, the UAE’s BECO Capital, and China’s MSA Capital.

Uber and regional competitor Careem started operating their own bus services in Egypt in late 2018, competing directly with Swvl.