Via Transportation, Inc. is an American technology company that provides software as a service (SaaS) and operations to improve public transportation networks for cities, transit agencies, schools and universities, healthcare providers, and corporations around the world. Via offers fully managed transit services as well as transportation planning tools, consulting services, operational support, and navigation.[1][2][3][4]
Founded in 2012, Via is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world.[5] As of March 2024, Via serves more than 700 global partners such as King County Metro in Seattle, Transport for London, Transport for New South Wales in Australia, and Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe in Germany.[6][7][8][9][10]
Via focuses on making transportation more equitable and accessible for all populations including paratransit riders, school-aged children, elderly populations, and low income riders.
History
Founding and early years
Daniel Ramot and Oren Shoval co-founded Via in 2012.[11] The company began as a ridesharing service on New York's Upper East Side before expanding citywide.[12][13][14][15][16] Commuters could book a shared ride for $5. Eventually the consumer business expanded to Washington D.C., Chicago, London, and Amsterdam.[17]
Product Portfolio
Microtransit
Microtransit is tech-enabled shared transportation where routing algorithms use real-time, on-the-ground information to group passengers into shared rides. Routes are dynamic; “schedules” shift based on rider demand; and vehicles range in size from vans to shuttles, or buses, depending on what’s needed for the system.[57]
Paratransit
Paratransit is accessible, door-to-door transportation for people with disabilities, typically delivered by vans or minibuses. In the United States, the ADA mandates that paratransit is offered within ¾ miles of any fixed-route bus line or train station.[58] Via’s paratransit software can improve paratransit for both riders and operators by increasing on-time performance, reducing reliance on manual scheduling, and lowering overall cost-per-trip.[59]
Student transit
Financing
In May 2016, the company raised $100 million in Series C financing.[70]
In November 2021, Via raised $130 million in a Series G round of financing at a $3.3 billion valuation. Investors included Janus Henderson, BlackRock, ION, and Koch Disruptive Technologies.[71][72]
In February 2023, the company raised $110 million at a $3.5 billion valuation. Investors included 83North, Exor N.V., Pitango, Janus Henderson, CF Private Equity, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures, Riverpark Ventures, and ION Crossover Partners.[73][74]
Acquisitions
In October 2020, Via acquired Fleetonomy, an Israeli startup and logistics company.[80][81][82][83]
In March 2021, Via acquired Remix, a collaborative transportation planning platform for transportation service planners, allowing users to visualize transit data and analyze community and cost impacts of new designs to assess tradeoffs of service planning decisions. In November 2021, Via announced On-demand Planning within the Remix platform.[3][84][85]
References
- Yannis Simaiakis. How to modernize paratransit Via Transportation, June 23, 2020, retrieved May 18, 2021^
- Kirsten Korosec. On-demand shuttle startup Via hits $2.25 billion valuation on latest funding round led by Exor TechCrunch, 31 March 2020, retrieved 26 July 2023^
- Eric Sylvers. Transportation Startup Via Makes $100 Million Bet on Mapping Company