Charter bus marketplace startup CharterUP raised a $60 million Series A round, the largest venture deal for an Atlanta startup in several months as investments continue to decline.
The investment was led by Tritium Partners, an Austin, Texas-based firm that focuses on online marketplace, logistics and software companies, according to an Oct. 26 news release. Tritium managing partners David Lack and Brett Shobe joined the company’s board of directors as part of the raise.
Funds from the investment will be used to expand to new markets and grow its presence in existing ones. It will increase its staff in product and engineering roles.
In 2021, Atlanta Inno named CharterUP a Startup to Watch.
This is the first time CharterUP, founded in 2018, has taken venture capital. CEO and founder Armir Harris had previously been his company's sole investor. In December 2020, Harris called CharterUP "profitable every quarter since its inception."
The raise comes as venture deals into Georgia startups have hit a near 30% decline quarter by quarter. Company valuations skyrocketed in 2021 and have now been reset from those highs, making it more difficult for entrepreneurs to seek capital. Economic uncertainty from inflation and rising interest rates has led to a pullback from investors.
This is the largest venture deal for an Atlanta company since GreyOrange Inc. raised $110 million in May. The largest Atlanta deals in the third quarter were a $40 million investment in cryptocurrency exchange company Yellow Card Inc. and a $40 million investment in solar energy startup Cherry Street Energy LLC.
CharterUP provides an online marketplace to arrange bus and shuttle transportation services. Its customers, which include universities, government agencies and businesses, can track buses and view their pricing.
It has more than 3,000 buses, 500 bus companies on its platform and is active in over 25 cities, according to its website. Its corporate customers include Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), Amazon Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Google LLC, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Meta Platforms Inc.
The company has grown by over 100% annually and reached an annual revenue of more than $150 million this year, according to the release. In 2020, the company was No. 8 on Deloitte's North America 2020 Technology Fast 500 list, which ranks fast-growing North American tech companies.
