Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund Led the Series A Extension Round in WhereIsMyTransport with Naspers Foundry and SBI Investment
June 6, 2021
Africa
WhereIsMyTransport set to raise $14.5 million in Series A Extension to accelerate its market-leading mobility data and product offering in emerging-market megacities. This funding is additional to the $7.5 million raised in a Series A round in 2020, cementing the scale-up’s leading position at a time of unprecedented change for public transport in emerging markets.
LONDON, [7th June 2021] — Mobility technology company WhereIsMyTransport is set to successfully close the second funding round for capital to expand its already impressive portfolio of mobility data and solutions for emerging-market megacities. This will bring the total raised by the company during its Series A funding to $22 million.
The funding infusion is led by Naspers Foundry, Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, and SBI Investment, joining a notable list of existing investors, including giants like Google and Toyota Tsusho Corporation. The extension comes as WhereIsMyTransport deepens its mobility data offering in the Majority World, adding and maintaining complete network data from every mode of public transport in Bangkok, Mexico City, Lima, Dhaka and Gauteng, and on target to map 30 emerging-market megacities by 2023. Other participants confirmed in the extension are Capria Ventures and Wuri Ventures, Mission Gate, B&Y, and KDDI Open Innovation Fund managed by Global Brain.
“Our initial round gave us the leverage we needed to enter new markets, and to broaden our reach. Securing additional funding now, as cities experience unparalleled changes to their mobility landscapes, is testament to the many opportunities that we create by producing accurate and reliable public transport data, and to our market-leading position,” says Devin de Vries, CEO and co-founder of WhereIsMyTransport. “More than ever, citizens and businesses in emerging markets need a central source of mobility data they can trust.”
Following closely on the news of the Series A extension is the launch of WhereIsMyTransport’s first consumer product, Rumbo, in Latin America. Leveraging the company’s unrivalled mobility data, the Android app is the first in these markets to provide network information from every mode of public transport. Rumbo has reached over 100,000 users and delivered over 750,000 real-time network alerts since launching in Mexico City in November 2020, and launches in Lima, Peru, later this year.
About WhereIsMyTransport
WhereIsMyTransport is a leading mobility technology company and central source of complete public transport data for emerging-market megacities. Working on the ground in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Europe and South and Southeast Asia, WhereIsMyTransport digitalises network information
from all modes of public transport, and maintains data accuracy as these dynamic systems change. The company’s products and data services improve the public transport experience, and inform industry-leading clients. WhereIsMyTransport started in South Africa, is headquartered in London, and has a globally distributed team. Visit: www.whereismytransport.com and www.mirumbo.mx
Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund
“By getting its start in Africa, WhereIsMyTransport has a deep understanding of the urban mobility challenges in emerging-market cities and the vast opportunities for large populations that can readily access accurate and reliable public transport data. At the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, we’re dedicated to backing innovative, inclusive solutions that are creating and connecting the digital infrastructure needed across Africa and innovation ecosystems worldwide. Firmly believing that inclusive mobility is critical to the development of emerging economies, we’re looking forward to working with the team to bring WhereIsMyTransport to megacity markets across the world and to connect continents inside and out.” – Yassine Oussaifi, Partner, Cathay AfricInvest Innovation.
Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund is the first early to growth-stage Pan-African Innovation fund connecting Africa with the world’s leading innovation ecosystems. The Fund, a joint initiative between Cathay Innovation and AfricInvest, targets investments in start-ups or ventures (either local, regional or global) that leverage technology and innovative business models to respond to African socio-economic challenges, offering innovative products and services to the growing African population. AfricInvest is among the leading asset management firms for PE, VC and Private Credit in Africa having raised US$2bn since inception. Founded 27 years ago, AfricInvest has made over 170 investments in almost 30 countries across the African continent in a variety of sectors, contributing to significant socio-economic development mainly thanks to revenue growth and profitability improvement across its portfolio companies. Cathay Innovation is a global venture capital partnership, created in affiliation with Cathay Capital, investing in start-ups at the center of digital revolution across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. As a multistage fund with over $1.5bn in assets under management and offices across San Francisco, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, Cathay Innovation partners with visionary entrepreneurs and start-ups positively impacting the world through technology. Visit: www.africinvest.com and www.cathayinnovation.com
About Naspers Foundry
“WhereIsMyTransport has a strong track record of developing the best-in-class technology in improving the daily commutes of people across the world. WhereIsMyTransport is a great addition to the Naspers Foundry investment portfolio and we look forward to working with the WhereIsMyTransport team as they take their business to the next level.” – Fabian Whate, Head of Naspers Foundry Established in 1915, Naspers has transformed itself to become a global consumer internet company and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Through Prosus, the group operates and invests globally in markets with long-term growth potential, building leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities. Prosus has its primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Naspers is the majority owner of Prosus. In South Africa, Naspers is one of the foremost investors in the technology sector and is committed to building its internet and ecommerce companies in the country. These include Takealot, Mr D Food, Superbalist, OLX, Autotrader, Property24 and PayU, in addition to Media24, outh Africa’s leading print and digital media business. Naspers is also focused on stimulating South Africa’s local tech sector through Naspers Foundry. This is a R1.4 billion investment vehicle that invests in early-stage technology companies that seek to address big societal needs. To help address youth unemployment in impoverished communities, in 2019, Naspers launched Naspers Labs, a development programme that provides young people with training and skills to pursue tech careers. Naspers has a primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ) and a secondary listing on the A2X Exchange (NPN.AJ) in South Africa, and has an ADR listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: NPSN). Visit: www.naspers.com
SBI Investment
SBI Investment Co., Ltd. is one of the leading fintech investors globally and building one of the largest digital asset ecosystems as a big believer of blockchain. Founded in 1996 as part of the venture capital arm of Softbank Group, SBI Investment spun off from Softbank in 2006 along with its parent company SBI Holdings. With the AUM of USD4.85 billion, the firm has invested in over 900 companies globally and had 150+exits. In April 2020, SBI Investment established a new fund namely SBI 4&5 Fund. The fund size is targeted at USD 900M, and has more than USD 700M committed so far. With the 4&5 fund, SBI will be investing in broader sectors such as state of art tech (AI, blockchain, IoT, big data, robotics) as well as fintech, mobility, e-commerce, healthcare, sharing economy, smart agriculture, autonomous driving, green energy and more. Visit: www.sbigroup.co.jp
Capria Ventures
Capria is a global investment firm leading the largest network of fund managers collaborating to deliver superior returns in emerging markets, using flexible capital, advanced investment systems, and deep partnerships. Through its network fund, Capria invests in venture capital and innovative debt funds while also investing alongside them directly to back leading early-growth businesses. Visit: www.capria.vc
Wuri Ventures
We believe that entrepreneurship and innovation have the potential to significantly impact people’s lives, creating jobs and bringing economic opportunity. Wuri Ventures exists to support high growth, innovative entrepreneurial companies operating primarily in African markets. Building on over 20 years of entrepreneurial operating experience in addition to private equity investing on the continent of Africa, Wuri Ventures is uniquely positioned to support entrepreneurs from the seed stage through Series A. Our experience and global reach helps us to add value to portfolio companies throughout the startup lifecycle. We launched Wuri Ventures in 2019 and have since made 7 investments and advised over two dozen startups. Visit: www.wuri.ventures