UK transit technology company Zeelo has secured $14 million (£11 million) in venture capital investment to further its growth in the United States and boost product development.
The business, which is headquartered in London but has a research and development arm in Spain and also has operations in US and South Africa, is aiming to expand its shuttle transportation services on the other side of the Atlantic.
Co-founders Barney Williams and Sam Ryan have moved to Zeelo’s second headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, while fellow co-founder Dani Ruiz continues to build the engineering team in Europe.
“Developed markets are underserved for daily mass transportation needs and we have seen increased demand for our transit-tech solution in the United States over the past 12 months,” says Mr Ryan, who is Chief Executive Officer.
“Due to this demand, we’ve had a growing number of requests from shuttle operators to leverage our technology to improve their client relationships and streamline operations. This new capital will accelerate Zeelo’s expansion across the US for an accelerated rollout of large-scale, multi-site transportation contracts, with some of North America’s biggest household brands, as well as further investment in our software offering.”
While Zeelo targets expansion in the US, it says it aiming to reinvest profits in the UK and double business here in the next 18 months. The company, which aims to run a fully zero-emissions fleet by 2030, has this year funded several electric coach trials for partner operators.
