Public transport trip planning co Tranzmate raises $3.5m

TranzMate is a trip planner to reach a destination, including walking time, and details about buses needed to reach it.

18 April 12 15:23, Tzahi Hoffman

Public transport trip planning company Tranzmate Ltd. has raised $3.5 million from Gemini Israel Funds and BRM Capital. The company's application uses mass wisdom for public transport users. It is similar to the Waze navigation application, which is based on traffic reports on congestion, accidents and road hazards. Waze founder and president Uri Levin is a member of TranzMate's board.

TranzMate is a trip planner to reach a destination, including walking time, and details about buses needed to reach it. It also offers real-time information about when a bus arrives at a stop, how crowded it is, traffic congestion, delays, police presence, the quality of the bus driver, and where the conductors are. TranzMate users provide most of this information.

TranzMate can be downloaded to Apple iPhones and Google Android devices. The company is also planning a version for Windows Phone devices, which will be launched in Israel in November.

TranzMate CEO Nir Erez, VP business development Yaron Evron, and CTO Roy Barak founded the company in 2011.

Erez says, "Tranzmate was founded to change the public transport experience in Israel and around the world. The objective is to provide passengers with information to eliminate uncertainty about public transport timetables and travel options."

Erez believes that the application will also encourage private drivers to switch to public transport.

"There is no question that achievements in Israel are just the start of the revolution," says BRM Capital partner Eran Barkat. "The world is being interlinked, and mass wisdom on one hand and information sharing on the other are Tranzmate's main advantages, which is why we believe that it will become a market leader."

Tranzmate has 10 employees, and it is planning to hire more. It will use proceeds from the financing round to improve its application and broaden operations to more countries.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 18, 2012

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