Moovit Raises $50M in New Round of Investments

Mobile payments are expected to be the next wave in the development of online payment, and it will become the most successful when integration into non-commerce apps take hold. One company looking to take advantage of cheaper mobile payment software as a complement to its existing service is Israeli-made, California-based public transportation app Moovit. On Jan. 14, Moovit announced that it raised $50 million in its new Series C funding round, bringing the net worth of the company to $450 million.

Like its countryman Waze works for finding traffic routes in real-time, Moovit takes the concept to public transportation, helping users in major cities find the most efficient mode of transportation based on user location and real-time updates. The investments, coming from transportation giants like BMW and Keolis, are expected to help Moovit expand its base of 15 million customers into more cities as it expands its global reach. Unlike Waze though, which was absorbed by Google for $1.1 billion, Moovit wants to remain independent for as long as possible, using the investments to expand its reach as well as to grow its revenue stream from just selling ad space to selling bus and train tickets as well, given its public transportation focus.

This would be where an affordable mPOS system developed in partnership with local transportation authorities would allow Moovit to stand apart from its rivals like CityMapper and Google Maps. Already, Moovit users can hire Lyft cars in the U.S. and GetTaxi cars in Israel, but unlocking municipal transportation would be monumental. An intuitive, efficient mPOS system would work with the user to find the best route and pay for it right then and there, should the circumstances warrant. It seems evident that the new capital raised by Moovit will go towards either developing this partnership or outsourcing to a mobile payment company, but it appears as though Moovit is being built to last, rather than being swallowed by the big fish of the tech industry like Waze.