London-based Zeelo, a smart bus platform for organisations that provides turn-key and plug-in transportation programmes, announced on Friday, July 29, that it has terminated its acquisition deal with Swvl Holdings Corp, a global provider of tech-enabled mass transit solutions.
Although all pre-completion obligations were fulfilled, the planned merger between Swvl and Zeelo was mutually terminated due to turbulence in the financial markets. The acquisition deal was announced on April 28, 2022, and was expected to close on May 24, 2022.
Zeelo, which claims to have grown by over 1,000 per cent since the beginning of 2020, will keep its focus on profitable growth in developed markets, particularly the UK, South Africa, and the US, in order to provide sustainable transportation for commuters and students living in areas with limited access to public transportation.
Zeelo taps into a developed markets’ opportunity to modernise shared mobility, which is worth $40B. Currently, the company transports over 150,000 riders each month, serving over 150 clients in the corporate and education space.
What does Zeelo offer?
Founded in 2016 by Sam Ryan, Barney Williams and Dani Ruiz, Zeelo is a smart bus platform for organisations that claim to be modernising daily bus commutes for frontline workers and students by helping them get to work and school in a faster, smarter, and greener way.
Zeelo serves large businesses and independent schools across the world. The company claims that its tech-optimised bus routes not only reduce carbon emissions by 78 per cent by replacing 30 cars for every bus journey, but also offset 100 per cent of each Zeelo bus journey.
The company’s transport management software system comprises a SaaS platform, proprietary routing algorithms, multiple consumer apps that leverage smart GPS route optimisation and ride-sharing software, and 24/7 customer service support to ensure people located in transport deserts have a regular, subsidised and sustainable bus service for their daily commute.
Currently, the company has over 170 employees, an R&D team in Spain, and is operational in the UK, South Africa and the US. It closed its Series A round in 2018 and has raised over $30M in funding in VC investment from ETF Partners, InMotion Ventures and Dynamo.
About Swvl
Founded in 2017 by Ahmed Sabbah and Mostafa Kandil, Swvl is a company that offers an app to enable customers to book fixed-rate rides on buses and vans in their network. It provides tech-enabled mass transit solutions, offering intercity, intracity, B2B, and B2G transportation across more than 115 cities in 20 countries and four continents.
The company’s platform provides semi-private alternatives to public transportation for individuals who cannot access or afford private options. Customers can book their rides on the company’s app with varied payment options and 24/7 access to private buses and vans.
Swvl claims to have achieved annual gross revenue growth of 430 per cent over the past four years. The company says that more than 2 million riders have booked 75 million rides with over 20 thousand drivers on Swvl’s platform to date.
