Bessemer Venture Partners and Insight Partners are leading a major $107 million investment round into mass transportation tech startup Optibus.
Existing investors, including Verizon Ventures, Pitango, New Era Capital Partners, Dynamic Loop and Blue Red Partners, also participated in the capital-raising exercise.
The Series C round brings the total raised by the Israel-based company to $160 million.
Created in 2014, Optibus uses artificial intelligence and cloud computing to public transportation networks, so that authorities can plan routes and services more efficiently.
It currently works with mass transit providers in over 450 cities worldwide, including London, New York City, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Brasilia.
Coinciding with the investment round is the launch of Geospatial Suite, a visualization tool for planners that makes use of the location of landmarks, urban facilities and other important elements that go into the create of city networks.
"The pandemic has made it more challenging for cities and transportation operators to provide safe and efficient public transportation, while also highlighting just how essential these services are."
Optibus CEO and co-founder Amos Haggiag says: "It’s now of critical importance that we modernize the public transit industry not only for the industry’s sake, but for the communities around the world that seek transit equity, freedom of movement for all residents, and environmentally sustainable cities."