Transportation software platform Optibus has closed a $100 million Series D round - valuing the Tel Aviv-based company at $1.3 billion – which Optibus claims makes it the first “unicorn” dedicated to the public transportation sector.
New and existing investors Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Verizon Ventures, Pitango First & Pitango Growth, Tencent and SOMV Momentum contributed to the round, bringing Optibus’ total funding to $260 million.
Founded in 2014, Optibus leverages artificial intelligence and cloud computing to help transportation agencies and operators plan routes and services more efficiently. Its software, which also helps reduce emissions and costs and promotes transportation equity, is used in more than 1,000 cities globally.
With the funding, Optibus will expand its product and service offerings, including real-time operations and electric vehicle management, as well enter new markets.
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The company is also launching a Ridership Insights product that visualizes ridership data on a map during the network planning phase, giving planners deeper insight into how a city moves.
"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,” says Optibus co-founder and CEO Amos Haggiag.
“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.”
Says Merav Rotem Naaman, general partner at SOMV Momentum: "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.”
Optibus previously raised a $107 million Series C round in March of last year.