News

SWVL Plans To Lay Off Around 400 Employees

The announcement of the layoff didn’t mention how the decision would affect SWVL’s planned expansion to Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.

Published

3 years ago

June 1, 2022

David Morelo

swvl plans to lay off around 400 employees

SWVL, a Dubai-based provider of technology-enabled mass transit solutions, has announced its plan to lay off 32 percent of its workforce (around 400 employees) to better cope with the new economic reality the company has found itself in over the past several weeks.

Since SWVL listed its shares this March on the Nasdaq through a merger with women-led blank check company Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, its valuation has dropped from $1.5 billion to $500-$600 million.

SWVL is just another name on the growing list of companies that have been negatively affected by the current global economic downturn. Even though the company hopes to become profitable again next year, it sees the layoff as the only way forward.

“Over the past few weeks, Swvl has been hit like others across the globe with changes to its financial realities. While change is often unexpected, we believe that any attempt to resist it instead of adapting to it will prove futile,” says SWVL CEO Mostafa Kandil. “Today, with the current global economic downturn, as much as we did everything we could to put people first, we now know that we are not able to keep everyone unimpacted.”

Despite the major setback, SWVL is determined to keep developing its proprietary technology stack and building on its recent acquisitions, which include TaaS and SaaS businesses Argentina’s Viapool, Turkey’s Volt Lines, Spain’s Shotl, and Germany’s door2door.

Also Read: How To Find Remote-Only Tech Jobs In 2023

The announcement of the layoff didn’t mention how the decision would affect SWVL’s planned expansion to Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States. Currently, SWVL operates in Argentina, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UAE.

Other technology-enabled companies that have recently announced layoffs include online payment and checkout platform Bolt, German on-demand grocery delivery company Gorillas, and Swedish fintech provider of online financial services Klarna.

News

Stake Powers Instant Payouts With Checkout.com Pay To Card

The new feature lets investors in the UAE, KSA, and UK receive real estate returns in minutes — cutting withdrawal times to under 10 minutes.

Published

2 days ago

June 19, 2025

Nour Nasir

stake powers instant payouts with checkout.com pay to card

Stake, a leading digital real estate investment platform, has unveiled Pay to Card, a next-generation withdrawal feature built on Checkout.com’s global payment infrastructure. The integration enables investors to have dividends and returns credited directly to their bank cards — often within minutes — dramatically reducing the traditional multi-day payout process.

After a successful pilot in May involving over 200 users, some investors reported receiving their funds in under 10 minutes. Ricardo Brizido, CPTO and Co-Founder of Stake, emphasized the importance of speed and reliability: “With Pay to Card, we’re eliminating unnecessary delays and putting returns in our investors’ hands almost instantly. This feature was built to directly solve one of the most common pain points in real estate investing, and it’s already driving strong results”.

The feature launch coincides with rapid growth in real-time finance across the Middle East. Checkout.com’s “State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025” report highlights a 388% year-on-year surge in Account Funding Transactions (AFTs) in the UAE, reflecting strong demand for immediate payout solutions. The same study recorded a 176% increase in total processing volume from 2023 to 2024 and noted that daily online transactions have jumped 320% since 2020.

Since its 2021 debut, Stake has facilitated over AED 1 billion in property transactions, advancing its mission to democratize real estate investment in high-growth markets. By integrating Pay to Card, Stake reinforces its commitment to customer-centric innovation and operational transparency.

Also Read: Binance Enters Syrian Market As Sanctions Lifted

Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com, praised the collaboration: “Stake has always led with customer-first financial experiences. Together, we’re meeting the expectations of a region that is no longer just digital-first, but real-time-first. Pay to Card exemplifies how modern payment infrastructure can directly solve investor pain points”.

Pay to Card is now available to all Stake users in the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. By slashing withdrawal times from days to minutes, Stake and Checkout.com are setting a new standard for seamless, on-demand real estate investing.