Bus hailing company SWVL has today announced that it plans to inject $15 million (KES 1.5 billion) into its Kenyan operations. This cash will go into improving their current operations and will also help them to scaling their business into other towns and routes in the country.
SWVL co-founder and CEO, Mostafa Kandil made the announcement when speaking at a press briefing in Nairobi. “Kenya is a market with a need for a stable solution for the perennial traffic snarl ups and SWVL believes that we can be of great benefit to the local consumer and the transport sector as a whole,” said Mr. Kandil. “We are very excited to provide a solution that makes the lives of Kenyans easier whilst proving beneficial to the Kenyan transport sector,” he added.
The company currently operates in Nairobi and it has announced that it will launch more routes in the capital city. When they launched in Kenya in February 2019, SWVL was operating on four routes and has over the last six months since increased the routes to fifty five. They are now planning to add more routes to cover more areas in Nairobi, as well as begin operations outside the capital city.
SWVL recently received $42 million (Ksh. 4.2 billion) Series B-2 funding led by BECO Capital and Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures. This increased the start-up’s valuation to $150 million (Ksh. 15 billion).
SWVL is a Cairo-based transportation start-up that allows allowing riders to hail shuttles operating on fixed routes and timings from their mobile phones. They currently operate in Egypt (Cairo and Alexandria), Kenya (Nairobi) and Pakistan (Lahore). The company was co-founded by Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahoud Nouh, and it launched in 2017. It’s one of the fastest-growing transportation start-ups in the region with investors including DASH Ventures, Sawari Ventures and BECO Capital.
The company’s services are available via the app on the Google Playstore and the Apple Store. The company operates from the Central Business District to the following towns; Ongata Rongai, Ruiru, and Kikuyu. To get space on the bus all you have to do is log on to the app, choose your bus stop and then book your seat.