Friday March 29th, 2024
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New Egyptian Micro Transportation Startup to Provide On-Demand Electric Scooters Across Cairo

Because on-demand cars are so two years ago.

Staff Writer

It seems like upgrading how the masses move around is the mission of the century, and technological innovation in the field over the past decade has been nothing short of ground-breaking. First came Uber and Careem, after which public mass-transport also became an option with startups like SWVL and services like Uber Bus and Careem Bus. But if you're seeking to get from point A to point B with the least hassle possible, then getting off at a drop-off location that's 10 or 20 minutes walking from your final destination isn't really the definition of convenience, which is where this new on-demand scooter service, Slyd, comes in.

Aiming to fill that gap, Slyd kicked off operations by providing electric scooters students to AUC students to help them get from their parking spots to the university's gates at the vast New Cairo campus. The way it works is that you download the app and once at a designated scooter station, you can unlock one using a QR code and instantly take off, before eventually dropping the scooter off in the nearest station to your destination. No muss, no fuss.

The service is soon to expand to districts across Greater Cairo, and the founders Mohamed Hamza and Alaa Shalabi told Egyptian Streets that they're working on establishing a cash payment system which will make it much more accessible to the masses, as credit card payments are yet to be fully adopted in Egypt. They're also working on an advanced anti-theft system to ensure that those who decide to keep the scooters are quickly brought to justice. “For the ride-hailing companies allows you to pay the driver in cash, but in this case, you are the driver yourself. What we are working on right now is that to tackle this in a way to empower the driver, as in you,” explained Hamza.

Download Slyd here.

Photo: Cairo West/Slyd