SWVL Announces $100 Million Acquisition of UK Startup Zeelo

Days after announcing the acquisition of Turkey-based transportation-as-a-service operator, Volt Lines, Egyptian-born, UAE-based SWVL has revealed that it is on the verge of acquiring UK startup Zeelon in a deal believed to be worth $100 million.

The self-proclaimed ‘largest smart bus platform in the UK’ joins a host of transportation specialists from across the world under the SWVL umbrella. The acquisition marks the fifth by SWVL since August 2021, when it acquired Spain’s Shotl to set in motion its aggressive expansion plans. 

That was followed up in November With the acquisition of Latin America-serving transit company, ViaPool, while March 2022 saw SWVL also acquire Berlin-based mobility startup, door2door. With a footprint that extends out of the UK and into the US and South Africa, the deal will allow SWVL to further expand in these territories. The acquisition is set to be completed by 2022.

Founded in 2016 by Barney Williams and Sam Ryan, Zeelo has raised a total of $19.6 million in funding, and caught the eye of  London-based private hire cab and courier company, which it has partnered with on numerous occasions, building on the fact that Zeelo’s co-founders had previously founded JumpIn, a ride-sharing app for student, which it then sold to Addison Lee in 2014. With Zeelo aiming to shift single occupancy vehicles to zero-emission mass transit to work locations, the deal will allow SWVL to expand its B2B services through a transportation-as-a-service platform that connects users through employers, and schools to operators and drivers.