An acquisition of Urbvan, a shared mobility platform that provides customers with tech-enabled transportation services in Mexico, by travel technology company Swvl is planned.
The company stated in a press release that the acquisition of Urbvan by Swvl “provides an excellent opportunity to accelerate Swvl’s mission to provide safer, faster, smarter, and more affordable mass transportation for everyone, no matter where they live.” Urbvan integrates mobility patterns with a shared vehicle aggregator platform.
The agreement’s specifics, which are anticipated to be finalized in the third quarter of this year, were not made public. Swvl asserts that the acquisition enhances the company’s basis for future growth in Latin America, extending its presence to more than 135 sites in 20 different nations.
The 2016-founded company Urban operates in 18 Mexican cities and offers solutions for urban routes, interstate routes, private organizations, and on-demand private requirements.
According to Mostafa Kandil, the CEO of Swvl, “Urbvan was based on the same concepts as Swvl: to eliminate the inefficiencies evident in traditional mass transit in many places of the world.”
He claims that Swvl’s presence in Mexico, an array of Transport-as-a-Service (TaaS) products, and connections to local authorities support the company’s mission to offer more secure and dependable mobility options “needed for vulnerable people who live in densely populated, difficult markets with vast geographies.”
The agreement was reached just a few weeks after Swvl said it will lay off 427 employees, or 32%, in order to attain profitability.
The business started on May 31 that “Such reductions would focus on duties that have been automated as a consequence of investments in the Business’s engineering, product, and support operations.” Swvl plans to provide financial, non-financial, and job placement aid to assist some of its employees in changing careers.
Swvl has acquired a number of companies this year, including the B2B and TaaS mobility platform Volt Lines and the smart bus platform Zeelo, both in April.
