Dubai ride-hailing unicorn to merge with women-led SPAC to list in the US

Swvl, a Dubai-based ride-hailing company, has announced its plan to go public in the US through a merger deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital.

The combined entity expects to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “SWVL.”

Photo credit: Swvl

The SPAC deal, which values Swvl at around US$1.5 billion, includes a US$100 million private investment in public equity led by Agility, Luxor Capital Group, and Zain. The IPO is expected to generate around US$445 million in cash proceeds, making the company the first unicorn from the Middle East to list on the Nasdaq.

The funds raised will be used to bankroll and accelerate Swvl’s strategy to expand to 20 countries by 2025 and reach US$1 billion in annual gross revenue.

Founded in 2017 by former Rocket Internet executive Mostafa Kandil, Swvl provides a ride-sharing service that focuses on mass transportation, rather than individual rides like Uber, Gojek, and Grab. It currently operates in 10 cities in Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

Last year, it recorded US$26 million in gross revenue, which it forecasts will reach US$79 million by the end of this year. The company said it has more than 1.4 million users that have booked more than 46 million rides to date, with thousands of drivers on its platform.

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Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital itself is a SPAC that is led entirely by women and was launched in December last year. It raised US$300 million in January this year and then launched a second blank-check company in February called Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital II.