STARTUP WATCH- Swvl is seeking to raise more than USD 100 mn in a financing round in 1Q2020, and targeting a USD 1 bn valuation in the coming five years, co-founder and CEO Mostafa Kandil told Reuters. “We were a company worth about USD 2 mn two years ago and our paid-up capital is now USD 80 mn,” he said. The company has been losing money, but expects to become profitable in two to three years, Kandil continued, Currently Swvl’s co-founders — Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah — own over 30% of the company, while the rest is owned by 17 investment funds, including Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures and the UAE’s BECO Capital.

To IPO or to be acquired by Uber? That is the question: Kandil said that he hopes Swvl will eventually IPO. He also threw another shocking twist to the interview, saying that they would consider buyout offers from companies such as Uber — which now operates its own bus service in direct competition with Swvl.

Expansion plans are still in the works: Swvl will expand into two cities in Pakistan in the next two weeks, begin operations in Lagos before the end of the year, and expand into Manila in 1H2020, Kandil said. The company is also reportedly eyeing entry into some 10 or 20 new cities next year, with Dar es Salaam and Abidjan being of particular interest, as well as markets in South East Asia. In Egypt, Swvl plans to reach 1 mn trips per day in the coming five years.

Background: In June, Swvl announced its plans to launch 50 buses in Lagos by mid-July, having entered Kenya earlier this year. Later that month, it raised USD 42 mn in the largest-ever funding round for an Egyptian startup. It was recently valued at USD 157 mn, and earlier this month revealed that it was moving its headquarters from Egypt to Dubai by November this year, but that Cairo would remain a hub for operations and engineering.