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Kekst CNC is handling Dubai-based Swvl mass transit ride start-up as it goes public via a merger with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, an all-female-led SPAC.
The $1.5B deal will result in shares of Swvl Holdings Corp. trading on the NASDAQ.
Swvl operates in ten cities across Africa, Middle East and Asia, where mass transit reliability is poor. Its technology is used to detect the most efficient routes for customers who are heading to work or school.
Swvl CEO Mostafa Kandil notes that deficient mass transit systems result in congestion, increased pollution and reduced rider productivity.
His company’s goal is “to empower all people to go where they want to, when they want to, and to feel comfortable doing it.”
Swvl expects to expand to Europe, North and South America by 2025.
In launching the Queen’s Gambit, which is the name of an opening sequence in chess, Victoria Grace said she assembled “a team of highly successful and strategically minded women with unparalleled global relationships, to identify and then grow a disruptive platform that solves complex challenges and empowers underserved populations.”
To Grace, Swvl fits the bill.
The Kekst CNC team includes Daniel Yunger, Nicholas Capuano, David Gill, Hallie Wolff, Emma Cloyd, Emma Prenn-Vasilakis and JM Shekian.
Publicis Groupe owns Kekst CNC.


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