The London-based transit technology company Zeelo said it has found success connecting bus operators, employers and schools for private bus and shuttle transport programs across three continents.
Now, the company is focusing its growth stateside, opening a U.S. headquarters in Boston and announcing a $14 million Series A extension round from FlatzHoffmann, IREON Ventures and a Boston-based family office.
Zeelo’s transportation management software system helps organizations with commuter shuttles and student transportation. CEO Sam Ryan described the company’s work as filling in the gaps around public transportation.
The company’s system includes a SaaS platform, a routing algorithm for picking up students or employees, and mobile apps for riders and drivers. Zeelo also provides 24/7 customer support. Zeelo has live operations in the UK, U.S. and South Africa. In each location, the company partners with local fleet operators to help serve its customers.
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The company was founded in 2016 by Ryan, Barney Williams and Dani Ruiz. The group previously sold JumpIn, a ride-sharing app, to Addison Lee in 2014.
“We work with all of those organizations to help them attract and retain talent and also to reduce the number of people that are driving to and from work every day, which obviously reduces the CO2 emissions associated to it,” Ryan told BostInno.
U.S. expansion
Zeelo is headquartered in London and has an R&D team in Spain. The company’s new Boston headquarters is at One Beacon. Ryan and Williams have moved to Boston to lead the local team, which consists of 10 employees. They expect to be at 25 to 30 people by the end of 2024, Ryan said. Across the business Zeelo has about 110 employees.
The company was looking at both New York and Boston as potential U.S. headquarters for its expansion, but Ryan said they settled on Boston because of the talent pool from universities and other tech companies.
Zeelo started building in the U.S. with a pilot in 2021 with a few customers. Ryan said they’ve since been ramping things up after seeing the interest from U.S. customers.
“During the course of the pandemic, we said, Hey, we’ve found really strong product market fit and good profitability in our U.K. business. We see this enormous opportunity in the U.S. How do we go about doing that?” Ryan said.
Zeelo has secured a contract with Fidelity, Ryan said, as well as two multisite, corporate-enterprise clients, including an e-commerce marketplace and a global shipping and logistics business.
Ryan said he expects the U.S. business to be bigger than the U.K. business within three years. Zeelo is operating in 10 states. Ryan declined to share specific revenue information, but said the business was on track to quadruple compared to 2022.
The U.S. expansion also comes with plans for more fundraising in the future. Ryan said this round was a Series A extension because Zeelo plans to do a larger growth-equity round with U.S.-based investors.
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