South African Startup, WhereIsMyTransport, raises 14.5 million for operational expansion
South African startup WhereIsMyTransport has announced that it raised $14.5 Million Series A Extension to Continue Expansion in Emerging Markets; the company already has a presence in South Africa and Mexico.
Naspers, through its investment arm, Naspers Foundry, co-led the investment with Cathay Afric Invest Innovation Fund. According to Naspers, the size of his check was $ 3 million. SBI Investment from Japan also participated in the round.
The extension round comes a year after WhereIsMyTransport received a Series A investment of $ 7.5 million from venture capital and strategic investment firms from Google, Nedbank, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC).
Read also: Kenyan InsurTech Startup, Lami Technologies, Secures US$1.8mn Seed Funding
Devin de Vries, Chris King, and Dave New started the company in 2015. As a mobility startup, WhereIsMyTransport traces formal and informal public transport networks. The company then uses the data obtained to improve the public transportation experience, making commutes safe and accessible.
What’s more To do this, WhereIsMyTransport licenses some of this data to governments, development finance institutions, NGOs, operators, and third-party developers.. Affirm this It’s done for research, analysis, insights and purposes of business and consumer solutions.
“WhereIsMyTransport started in South Africa, focused on becoming a central source of accurate and reliable public transport data for high growth markets.. We are delighted to welcome Naspers as an investor as our journey continues in megacities throughout most of the world, ”CEO Devin de Vries said in a statement..
Last year when we covered the company, it had mapped 34 cities in Africa while actively mapping some in India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.. Since then, it has only expanded to Latin America with its launch in Mexico City last November.. It has launched its first consumer product Rumbo, which provides network information for all public transport modes in the region.. WhereIsMyTransport currently has over 100,000 users delivering over 750,000 real-time network alerts with plans to launch Rumbo in Lima, Peru, later this year.
Devin de Vries (CEO of WhereIsMyTransport)
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For co-investor Naspers Foundry, this is the company’s first investment in mobility. So far, it has funded four other South African startups: Aerobotics, SweepSouth, Aerobotics, and Studio Cap, with a focus on the edtech, food, and cleaning sectors.
“We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to endorse an extraordinary South African founder who has built his business here in Cape Town to a global market leader in mapping formal and informal transport with a strong focus on emerging markets,” said the director of Naspers Foundry Fabian. What did you tell TechCrunch?.
He also adds that there is an overlap between mobility and the food and e-commerce businesses that appear to be Naspers ‘main focus from Naspers’ perspective.. “Global food and e-commerce companies, often operating in emerging markets, are highly dependent on mobility solutions. So there is a lot of overlap between what Naspers Group does and WhereIsMyTransport’s vision.. “
In South Africa, WhereIsMyTransport customers include the Johannesburg Gautrain commuter rail system and Transport for Cape Town. On the other hand, its international customer base Google, the World Bank and WSP, and others.
Naspers South Africa CEO Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa said: “Mobility continues to be an obstacle for billions of people in high-growth markets around the world.. Our investment in WhereIsMyTransport is a testament to our belief that great innovation and technological talent It is found in South Africa, and with the right backing and support, these companies can provide solutions to local challenges that can improve the lives of ordinary people in South Africa and abroad.. “
What You Need To Know About WhereIsMyTransport
Founded in 2015 by Devin de Vries, Chris King, and Dave NewWhereIsMyTransport is an information technology company that collects and provides access to public transport data from African cities. It features a big data platform that specializes in data collection, data access, and journey planning.
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