CitySwift, the Galway-based transport data company transforming the operations and passenger experience of public transport, has closed a funding round of €2m bringing funding to date to €3.5m. This round was led by the Western Development Commission, Irelandia Investments, Act Venture Capital, Enterprise Ireland, Mike McGearty (former CEO of CarTrawler), and other notable Irish transport entrepreneurs. All investors have been involved in both of CitySwift’s funding rounds.
Dynamic public transport planning and optimising operations through data is set to play the main role in the recovery and new future of public transportation and mobility in cities, and CitySwift’s specialist data engine is set to be at the very foundation of this transport evolution. The platform – an end-to-end SaaS platform- intelligently powers public transportation for forward-thinking operators. It visualises a birds-eye view of a cities mobility data and creates an operational plan and schedule simulations that orchestrate the movements of passengers and every vehicle in a city-wide transportation ecosystem, enabling public transport operators to choose the best options available and create a superior service for passengers while significantly reducing operating costs for cities.
Gillian Buckley, Investment Manager at The Western Development Commission said; “We are delighted to be part of this latest funding round for Cityswift which will support the creation of 25 new jobs across Ireland and remotely over the next twelve months. CitySwift are a fantastic example of a highly innovative company building a scalable enterprise from their base in the west of Ireland.”
CitySwift’s industry-leading data engine for public transport has been rolled out by a number of the UK’s largest listed passenger transport companies, including National Express and Go-Ahead Group, who have collective revenues of over €8billion, where it is being used to reduce operating costs and increase reliability. The technology has enabled an agile response to social distancing measures and lockdown restrictions being eased assisting bus companies in planning and reacting to the new normal.
CitySwift’s latest solution, a passenger-facing bus capacity checker using AI predictions, works like Google Maps but with the added feature that passengers are able to see how busy their bus is going to be up to two weeks in advance of travelling. It generates dynamic predictions of bus loadings to inform passengers’ journey choices whilst capacities are restricted and as new travel patterns emerge. Passengers can access a colour-coded timetable of bus routes, which shows what buses are likely to be busy or have space, on a stop-by-stop basis. This technology has recently been deployed across Go-Ahead Group’s entire UK operations via ‘When2Travel.co’ with other bus operators showing interest in rapidly deploying the solution to encourage passengers back onto the bus.
Brian O’Rourke, CitySwift Co-Founder and CEO states, “One thing we’ve come to learn through Covid-19 is just how important data is – whether for businesses trying to operate, governments trying to reopen or individuals trying to understand this pandemic. This has been even more evident for public transport companies as they monitored the effects of lockdown restrictions on their networks and model and plan for future scenarios as restrictions have begun to ease. The CitySwift platform has been leveraged to enable our clients and their passengers to make informed, data-driven decisions as they navigate the road to recovery in these ever-changing times”.
CitySwift’s latest funding will speed up product development and the hiring of 25 new positions, in Ireland and remote, over the next twelve months. The hires will be across commercial and technical roles including business development, customer success, product, data science and engineering, fuelling the expansion of its business in the European market, where they are already working with a number of public authorities.
