Scheduler Optibus secures $40m investment

Financing round is ‘set to drive future products and expansion into new and existing markets’, it says

Optibus, which uses advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver the most effective and efficient bus and crew scheduling, has secured a £40m investment that it says will “drive future product innovation and support expansion into new and existing markets.”

The cloud-based Optibus platform is used in more than 300 cities worldwide and the business has an office in the UK. Former Transport for London MD Surface Transport Leon Daniels joined in August as an advisor and investor.

“Every city on the globe has a public transport service, yet operations rely on outdated software and manual practices to plan, optimise and run them,” says Optibus Co-founder and CEO Amos Haggiag.

“That wastes resources and delivers a poor service. On the other hand, rapid innovations in urban mobility are pushing transport providers to modernise, and Optibus creates the technology infrastructure that can ensure better performance.”

Optibus drives some of the largest, most complicated transport systems worldwide. Besides improving service delivery, it also reduces costs and streamlines operations. It is used by many large providers, including First Group, Keolis, RATP Dev and Transdev.

As part of the investment, which has been led by Insight Venture Partners, the momentum of electric and autonomous vehicles will be leveraged, as will the potential for integrating new forms of mobility into existing services.