Optibus becomes the first public transportation unicorn with Series D closing

Funding accompanies the launch of Ridership Insights, which helps planners redesign transportation systems to increase ridership and 'build back better'

LONDON, May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Optibus, the end-to-end software platform for public transportation planning and operations, announced today that it has closed $100 million in Series D funding, with investments from new and existing investors Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Verizon Ventures, Pitango First & Pitango Growth, Tencent, SOMV Momentum, and others. This latest round of financing brings Optibus' total funding to $260 million and its valuation to $1.3 billion, making Optibus the first unicorn dedicated to the public transportation sector.

Optibus closes the round as it launches Ridership Insights and will use the funding to advance its vision of a holistic software platform for all public transportation planning and operations needs, expand into new product and service offerings including real-time operations and electric vehicle management, and strengthen its global presence in existing and new markets.

Since its founding in 2014, Optibus has helped over a thousand cities tackle industry challenges by leading the digital transformation of the sector. With the launch of Ridership Insights, Optibus enables the visualization and analysis of ridership data directly on the map during the network planning phase, giving planners deeper insight into how the city moves. Planners can easily view their ridership KPIs on a route, segment, or stop level, with boarding and alighting data for each stop, or filter by time and date range. This crucial data enhances insight into how the network is performing, resulting in better routes that meet passengers' needs.

"Optibus combines innovation and public transportation expertise like no one else in the industry. Their software is revolutionizing our business and day-to-day operations, as well as the passenger experience. Optibus is the future of public transportation and we celebrate this fantastic milestone with them," said Carla Stockton-Jones, UK Managing Director at Stagecoach Group, the largest public transport operator in the UK, with an estimated 2.5 million passenger trips each day.

"Optibus is proud to be the first unicorn dedicated to public transportation, which is at the core of a healthy and equitable society. By putting powerful technology in the hands of industry professionals, Optibus helps to increase transportation equity and ridership while reducing emissions and costs. Our investors and employees see the double promise of Optibus to generate both social good and ROI, and we are thrilled to lead the industry's digital transformation," said Optibus CEO and co-founder Amos Haggiag.

"Optibus has modernized the industry and helped cities around the world bring quality and reliable transportation to their residents. As long-time investors in the company, we're excited to continue our partnership with Amos and the team," said Teddie Wardi, Managing Director at Insight Partners. "We look forward to working with Optibus as they continue to grow and scale up."

"For SOMV Momentum, Optibus represents everything that is great in tech; digitizing and disrupting the basic functions of society in a way that serves the common good, both in quality of service and environmental impact, whilst also being an island of solid growth, which is of prime importance for us in current market conditions," said Merav Rotem Naaman, General Partner at SOMV Momentum. "We are very proud to be continuing this journey with Amos and his amazing team."

About Optibus
Optibus is an end-to-end, cloud-native solution for transportation planning, scheduling, rostering, and operations, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and optimization algorithms. Transportation agencies and operators in 1,000 cities worldwide trust Optibus to increase efficiency and service quality, promote transportation equity, reduce emissions and costs, and modernize their operations. Learn more: www.optibus.com

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