Optibus has announced it has closed a series A financing round totaling $12 million. The round was led by Israel-based venture capital firm Pitango, and includes strategic investor Verizon Ventures and venture capitalist Sir Ronald Cohen. The funding will be used to develop Optibus’ operating system designed to power the smart cities of the future and to accelerate worldwide growth.
“Smart mass transportation is the key to future mobility, remaining the only efficient way to move masses of people every day,” says Amos Haggiag, co-founder and CEO of Optibus. “With the disruption of the automotive landscape, classic forms of transport such as busses, trains and trams are at risk of being left behind. By leveraging the power of machine-learning, Optibus simplifies the complex planning and control process behind modern transportation services, by offering a platform for municipalities and transit operators that allows them to move from a static schedule that rarely changes to dynamic real-time operation.”
Optibus’ current cloud-based software performs deep analysis on mass transportation, allowing transit operators to manage and operate the most efficient and cost-effective schedules across entire cities. Today, some of the largest fleet operators and municipalities in the world use the Optibus platform to plan, control and optimize operations in more than 200 cities across the world including Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Washington D.C. Optibus dynamically synchronizes vehicles across five continents, saving their customers tens of millions of dollars annually.
Electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as on-demand mobility and ride-sharing, will soon dramatically change the face of transportation in our cities. Optibus’ software is being further developed to establish an integrated city-wide operating system for all modes of transport that will serve mass transportation providers and municipalities. This platform will identify and predict passenger demand and upcoming operational changes such as road construction, traffic accidents, or weather conditions, and allow for dynamic and real-time adjustments to be made to schedules, swiftly fixing any problems in the most cost-effective way, before passengers are aware or negatively affected by the issue.
“We recognized Optibus’ role in the transportation revolution in its early stages. Optibus shows a deep understanding of the market and has made a significant impact in cost savings and overall customer experience,” said Rami Beracha, managing general partner at Pitango. “We are proud to support Optibus as it continues the journey to help municipalities and fleet operators deliver efficient mass transportation in cities throughout the world both today and in the smart cities of the future.”
“As the world rapidly urbanizes, smart cities will need transportation systems that help buses, trains, trams and trucks run more efficiently,” said Merav Rotem Naaman, managing director of Verizon Ventures Israel. “We work with fleets of all kinds and understand the value that Optibus’ innovative technology brings to the market. The company’s mission supports our vision for smart cities and its use of AI brings a new level of innovation to what has been known to be a slow-moving sector and we believe their platform will be transformative to say the least.”
Assisting Optibus’ leadership team and board, Ehud Rokach has recently joined the company as executive chairman. With over 25 years of experience in founding, leading, and scaling technology companies, Ehud will help develop Optibus’ strategy and execute its aggressive growth plans. Previously, Ehud co-founded and served as the CEO of XtremIO, a market leader in IT Storage infrastructure. Following XtremIO's acquisition by EMC, Ehud served as senior vice president and general manager with Dell EMC, leading its XtremIO business unit through hyper-growth and market leadership position.
