Bus.com raises $19.5 million, will hire lots of people


Montreal’s Bus.com is adding nearly $20 million (US $15 million) in venture funding to its arsenal as it continues to carve out a clever position in the bus charter industry.

Co-led by San Francisco’s Autotech Ventures and Montreal’s Cycle Capital Management, the new investment drew contributions from previous investors Jackson Square Ventures, BMW i Ventures, Real Ventures, Y Combinator, and BDC Capital. It brings Bus.com’s total funding to just over $28 million.

For CEO Kyle Boulay, the need for more funding largely comes as the company looks to aggressively expand to new markets in North America (he wouldn’t say which cities). The funding will also aid Boulay and company’s vision to Uberize the bus charter industry, a notably old school space that hasn’t seen much motion over decades.

That means pumping cash into building better software to make the customer’s experience better. It’s not an easy code to crack, said Boulay. 95 percent of charter bus operators are small businesses who own fewer than 25 buses and run their companies with little or no technology.

 

“We just want bus trips to be an elegant booking experience. We want our customer experience to be seamless, instant and surprisingly delightful. We want it to be like the first time we all used Uber or other great products. When you unlock something and solve needs through technology it can be magical, and we just feel like the overall experience of renting a private bus can be made significantly better. The future is where moving groups long distance will be as easy as using an app to call a rideshare service”

 

Boulay said the company takes seriously the concept of learning and growing. Plenty of startups have tried and failed in the space, and Bus.com seems to have carefully made the right decisions.

“Our team has done a really good job of growing the business and understanding what opportunity unlocks next,” said Boulay. “We’ve growing really quickly and we see an opportunity to grow even quicker.”

It marks Bus.com’s first time taking money from Autotech Ventures and Cycle Capital Management. Autotech Ventures investment was made by Managing Director Daniel Hoffer, who founded popular travel site Couchsurfing in his past life.

“We like to work with people who have been there before and who have built great companies. We’ve been lucky enough to build some great relationships in San Francisco, and Dan and Autotech really impressed us with their commitment to investing in building the biggest transportation companies in their respective sectors. They’re really smart people.”

“We’ve gotten to know Cycle Capital over the past four years here in Montreal and we’ve been looking for strong Quebec partners given that we’re headquartered here. Andree-Lise Methot and team bring years of experience as investors and we’re really excited to work with them. . We want to continue to get cars off the road and reduce carbon emissions. Cycle’s expertise in cleantech is valuable.”

“When we talk about true sustainability, there are three pillars to consider: social, economical, and environmental,” said Cycle Capital’s Andrée-Lise Méthot, Canada’s largest cleantech VC private investment platform. “Bus.com’s business model is unique because it’s tapping into a real consumer need, allowing their bus operator partners to access new revenue streams, and providing environmental benefits by facilitating mass transportation.”

Bus.com will be using part of the funding to hire more folks in Montreal. Specifically the company wants to hire product managers, product designers, engineers, middle management, sales and marketing.

Share
Tweet
+1
0 Shares

9 Comments

Add yours
  1. 2
    coconut oil the

    After checking out a number of the blog articles on your web site, I seriously like your
    way of writing a blog. I book marked it to my bookmark site list and will be
    checking back soon. Take a look at my website too and let me know how you feel.

  2. 3
    plenty of fish dating site

    Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this,
    like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to
    drive the message home a little bit, but instead of that, this is fantastic blog.
    A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.

  3. 4
    ps4 games

    You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something that I think I
    would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me.

    I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to
    get the hang of it!

  4. 5
    quest bars cheap

    Greetings! I’ve been following your web site for a long time now and
    finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout
    out from Porter Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the
    good job!

  5. 6
    quest bars cheap

    Its like you read my thoughts! You seem to understand so much about this, like you
    wrote the guide in it or something. I feel that you just could do with
    a few p.c. to pressure the message house a bit, but instead of that, this is wonderful blog.
    An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.

  6. 7
    quest bars cheap coupon twitter

    You’re so awesome! I do not believe I’ve read through something like that
    before. So nice to find another person with some genuine thoughts on this subject.
    Really.. thanks for starting this up. This web site is something that is required on the web, someone with a little originality!

  7. 8
    quest bars cheap

    My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of the costs.

    But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on a number of websites
    for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform.
    I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it?

    Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!

  8. 9
    ps4 games

    A person essentially lend a hand to make severely posts I would
    state. That is the very first time I frequented your
    web page and so far? I surprised with the research you
    made to create this actual post incredible. Fantastic task!

+ Leave a Comment