Cape Town-based technology start-up WhereIsMyTransport has completed its seed funding of R12 million.
WhereIsMyTransport is a platform for smart urban transport in emerging regions of the globe. The WhereIsMyTransport application program interface helps to integrate formal and informal transport to connect cities, operators and commuters for a more sustainable and efficient transport system.
The start-up has also expanded internationally with the opening a new office in London. While the primary development workshop will remain in Cape Town, the London office will enable WhereIsMyTransport to easily connect with its clients - cities and transit operators around the globe.
The company closed on the oversubscribed seed round in July, raising R12 million from a range of local and international investors. The funders include private and public institutions with a range of industry expertise. Infotech, part of the Mertech Group, was the local investor.
International support came from Horizen Ventures and Goodwell Investments, a Dutch early-stage venture fund, and Wim van der Beek, founding partner at Goodwell, has joined the board of directors. Tom Boardman, former CEO of Nedbank and chairman of Athena Capital, as well as a Kim Fennell, CEO of deCarta, an Uber technologies company, have both made personal investments.
"We are very proud to be a company that was born and raised in Africa, and our commitment to building solutions that serve developing cities remains unchanged," says co-founder Devin de Vries. "Having an international base for operations makes it easier for us to reach other cities outside Africa and gives us the resources, credibility and access to venture capital needed to compete on a global scale."
In addition to the overseas office, the Cape Town headquarters of WhereIsMyTransport have moved from the suburban garage where they began seven years ago, to a new campus in town that can accommodate the rapidly expanding team.
"Leaving the garage was the end of an era - that's where it all began. Our relocation helps mark the new phase of growth and development we're entering," De Vries adds. "Both our overseas office, and our new Cape Town offices are part of our transition to a more mature phase."
WhereIsMyTransport is one of 13 companies in the Knife Capital Incubator, Grindstone, and is a member of the Microsoft BizSpark Programme.
The start-up recently won the Start-Up Tel Aviv competition in SA, and will represent the country at the Tel Aviv DLD Innovation festival and networking week this month. WhereIsMyTransport was also named one of the Financial Times International Finalists for Transformative Information Technology, and their urban transport app Findmyway was named an African Climate Solver by the WWF.