Zain Group has announced the launch of Zain Ventures, as well as the closure of investments and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pipe and Swvl to help them expand across Zain’s regional presence and beyond.

“The establishment of Zain Ventures is another step in Zain Group’s ‘4Sight’ strategy and progression to become a full-fledged digital services company. We have already enjoyed tremendous success in the investments we have made in venture capital entities and startups that show promising potential for boosting our revenues in new and developing verticals, and formalising these investments under a single entity at this time will create shareholder value,” Bader Al Kharafi, Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO said. 

“We are extremely excited and confident that Zain Ventures’ first investments in fast-growing and world-leading entities in their respective industries, Pipe and Swvl will be value accretive to all parties as we accelerate their growth across the region and beyond. We are keen on participating in and encouraging the global entrepreneurial startup ecosystem.”

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Here Is What You Need To Know

• Zain Ventures was recently established to complement Zain Group’s existing investment portfolio and to open the door to future investment opportunities in venture capital, fintech, and technology, with a focus on digital breakthroughs in the rapidly increasing electronic services and startup ecosystem.

• Pipe is a fast-growing US-based fintech known as the world’s first trading platform for recurring revenues, with its recent fund-raising valuing the company at $2 billion in just over a year since its public launch in June 2020, making it one of the fastest fintechs in history to reach this milestone.

• Swvl is revolutionizing the $1 trillion global public transportation business. The Company’s proprietary mobility solutions, which are powered by cutting-edge technology, are helping to solve mass transit supply and demand challenges in complex, emerging markets, providing transportation solutions that are reliable, convenient, safe, and affordable to massively underserved communities. It presently has ten locations across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Kenya, and Pakistan.

• Swvl is set to go public through a formidable merger with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, a women-led special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in collaboration with Agility, Luxor Capital Growth, and Zain, valuing the startup at $1.5 billion, making it the first $1 billion+ unicorn from the Middle East to list on Nasdaq and the only tech-enabled mass transit solutions company to list on the exchange. Swvl’s expansion plan, which aims to create $1 billion in annual gross sales and expand to 20 countries by 2025, will be funded and accelerated by the deal, which is estimated to generate gross proceeds of up to $445 million.

“Zain grasped the opportunity to invest in Swvl for reasons that also core to our sustainability, diversity and inclusion corporate strategy: 1. Supporting national transport infrastructure and optimising mobility; 2. Serving the underprivileged; 3. Sustainability and environmentally friendly; 4. Women empowerment and safety; 5. Unlimited synergies with Zain’s footprint across the region. The Zain team looks forward to playing its strategic role and being part of Swvl’s trajectory growth and global success story,” Al Kharafi said about Swvl. 

Read also:Barely 4 Years Old, Egyptian Ride-hailing Startup, Swvl, Goes Public At A Valuation Of $1.5 billion

“Pipe is a startup that is re-writing the rule book on fintech development, and in which many other prominent and shrewd venture capitalists and investment companies are supporting strongly, as shown by the latest round of funding we all participated in. We believe Pipe offers an incredible opportunity for capital appreciation and revenue growth and we look forward to participating in its continuing expansion as more clients are added to the platform,” Malek Hammoud, Chief Investment and Digital Transformation Officer said. 

“The enormous and relatively untapped entrepreneurial talents of the region are being showcased to the startup ecosystem global community through this transaction that will see Swvl as the first $1 billion+ unicorn from the Middle East to list on Nasdaq,” Hammoud said about SWVL. 

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer