Optibus Valuation, Funding & Investors
Optibus is valued at $1.3B as of May 2022.
Last Optibus valuation
$1.3B
Series D · May 2022
Last Optibus funding round
$100M
Series D · May 2022
Cumulative funding Optibus raised
$260M
across 5 funding rounds
Key investors in Optibus
Pitango VC
Verizon Ventures
Insight Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners
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Sir Ronald CohenBlueRed Partners
About Optibus
Optibus is a mobility platform using AI optimization for public transit planning, scheduling, and operations. The software manages rosters, vehicle allocation, and real-time adjustments for agencies handling millions of daily passengers. Deployed in Auckland, Tel Aviv, and Latin American cities, the Tel Aviv-headquartered company integrates with GTFS standards.
Founded
2014
HQ
Tel AvivWebsite
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2G
Revenue model
Subscription
Valuation
$1.3B (May 2022)
Optibus Valuation
Optibus is currently valued at $1.3B, based on its Series D in May 2022.
The $100M round included Pitango VC, State of Mind Ventures, Tencent, Bessemer Venture Partners, BlueRed Partners and 2 other investors.
Optibus valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Series D | $1.3B |
Optibus Funding History
Optibus has raised a total of $260M across 5 funding rounds.
Optibus' first fundraising round was a $1M seed round in January 2015. The most recent completed round was a $100M Series D in May 2022.
Optibus funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Series D | Pitango VC; State of Mind Ventures; Tencent; Bessemer Venture Partners; BlueRed Partners; Verizon Ventures; Insight Partners | $100M | $1.3B | Optibus, a Tel Aviv-based transportation software platform founded in 2014, provides an AI-powered, cloud-based end-to-end solution for public transportation planning, scheduling, and operations. The platform helps transit agencies optimize routes, reduce emissions and costs, promote equity, and manage real-time operations and electric vehicles. It serves over 1,000 cities globally, powering about 2.5 billion annual trips across buses, trams, light rails, and subways, with integrations for multi-modal options like bikes and scooters. On May 16-17, 2022, Optibus closed a $100 million Series D funding round at a $1.3 billion post-money valuation, achieving unicorn status as the first dedicated to public transportation. Investors included Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Verizon Ventures, Pitango First & Pitango Growth, Tencent, SOMV Momentum (State of Mind Ventures), and BlueRed Partners. This brought total funding to $260 million, following a $107 million Series C at $400-500 million valuation in March 2021. Proceeds will expand product offerings like Ridership Insights for analyzing passenger data and KPIs, real-time operations, EV management, and global market presence, including potential acquisitions with $200 million in cash reserves. The company grew to 300 employees from 120 a year prior and doubled its city customer base. Optibus positions itself at the intersection of tech innovation and societal impact, digitizing public transit for better service, environmental benefits, and ROI. Investors praised its growth and disruption potential amid market conditions, with customers like Stagecoach Group highlighting operational revolutions. |
| Mar 2021 | Series C | Bessemer Venture Partners (lead); Insight Partners (lead); Pitango VC; New Era Capital Partners; Dynamic Loop Capital; BlueRed Partners; Verizon Ventures | $107M | - | Optibus, a Tel Aviv-based cloud-native AI platform for planning and operating mass transportation, raised $107 million in a Series C round on March 10, 2021, co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors including Verizon Ventures, Pitango, New Era Capital Partners, Dynamic Loop, and BlueRed Partners. This brought total funding to $160 million since its founding in 2014. The round coincided with the launch of its Geospatial Suite to enhance transportation networks and transit equity through data-driven planning, amid challenges like new mobility options, electric vehicles, and the pandemic. The funding aims to accelerate deployment of zero-emission vehicles and replace fossil fuel-based mass transit fleets. The company serves over 1,000 cities globally, leveraging AI and cloud computing to optimize routes, reduce emissions and costs, and promote transportation equity. A subsequent Series D round of $100 million in 2022, with some overlapping investors like Bessemer, Insight, Verizon Ventures, Pitango, and BlueRed, valued Optibus at $1.3 billion, making it the first public transportation unicorn and bringing total funding to $260 million. |
| Dec 2018 | Series B | Insight Partners (lead); Pitango VC; Sir Ronald Cohen; Verizon Ventures; Alibaba Group | $40M | - | Optibus is an AI-based cloud-native platform for public transportation planning and operations, optimizing routes, schedules, and real-time operations for transit agencies worldwide. Founded in 2014 in Israel, it serves over 100 customers across 450 cities including New York, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, and Singapore, with major clients like LADOT, NICE, AVTA, First Group, and Stagecoach. The company focuses on data-driven decisions, AI optimization, geospatial tools, and supporting zero-emission vehicle transitions to enhance efficiency, equity, and sustainability in mass transit. In December 2018, Optibus raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Insight Partners, with participation from Alibaba Group, Verizon Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital, Sir Ronald Cohen, and existing investors. The funding aimed to accelerate product innovation, expand into new markets, and scale its AI platform for mass transportation. subsequent funding history shows growth: a prior Series A of $12M in 2018 led by Vertex Ventures, Series C of $107M in March 2021 co-led by Bessemer and Insight (total raised $160M), and Series D of $100M in 2022 at $1.3B post-money valuation led by Insight Partners, bringing total funding to $260M and achieving unicorn status as the first in public transportation software. Traction around the 2018-2021 period included 250% revenue growth and six-fold increases in revenues and customers since late 2018, powering operations in key global cities amid accelerated demand. By 2021, Optibus employed 150 people planning to double, with expansions in Europe, North America, APAC, and support for large transit authorities. Competitive context positions Optibus as a leader in transit SaaS against manual planning tools, leveraging AI for network optimization and equity. Investors like Insight Partners (software scale-ups), Bessemer, Verizon Ventures, and Pitango back its global push. Follow-on developments include Series D extensions and product launches like the Geospatial Suite in 2021 for urban mobility. |
| Nov 2017 | Series A | Pitango VC (lead); Sir Ronald Cohen; Verizon Ventures | $12M | - | Optibus raised $12 million in a financing round led by Pitango Venture Capital, with participation from Sir Ronald Cohen and Verizon Ventures, in July 2017. This round supported the company's real-time public transport planning platform. Optibus provides an end-to-end SaaS platform for public transportation planning and operations, serving cities worldwide. Since this Series A round, Optibus expanded into North America and Europe, with sales growing 400% by the time of its Series B. |
| Jan 2015 | Seed | - | $1M | - | - |
Who has invested in Optibus?
11 investors have backed Optibus across its funding rounds, including Pitango VC, Verizon Ventures, Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Sir Ronald Cohen and BlueRed Partners.
Lead investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners and Pitango VC.
Optibus Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herzliya | 4 | Lead | Nov 2017 | |
 Basking Ridge, NJ | 4 | Participant | Nov 2017 | |
| New York City, NY | 3 | Lead | Dec 2018 | |
| Sir Ronald Cohen |  London | 2 | Participant | Nov 2017 |
| San Francisco, CA | 2 | Lead | Mar 2021 | |
 Singapore | 2 | Participant | Mar 2021 | |
| Tel Aviv | 1 | Participant | Mar 2021 | |
| Tel Aviv | 1 | Participant | May 2022 | |
 Shenzhen | 1 | Participant | May 2022 | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 11 Optibus investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
Sign up to see data on 350K+ funding rounds and disclosed revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples, from seed, through growth stage, to pre-IPO.
Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Optibus
Optibus has acquired 2 companies to date.
Last acquisition by Optibus was on September 2nd 2024. Optibus acquired Datik for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by Optibus
| Description | Datik is a Madrid-based technology provider for public transportation operators. Its solutions improve driver and passenger experiences via real-time analytics, predictive maintenance, and mobile apps. Datik reduces operational costs for bus and rail companies across Spain and Latin America through integrated fleet management systems. | Trillium Solutions is a Seattle-based SaaS provider of real-time transit information systems. The platform delivers GTFS-RT data feeds, mobile apps, and digital signage for agencies like King County Metro. Trillium Solutions integrates AVL, ETA predictions, and trip planning for over 200 operators worldwide. |
| HQ Country |  | |
| HQ City | San Sebastian | Portland, OR |
| Deal Date | 2 Sep 2024 | 12 Apr 2022 |
| Valuation | undisclosed | $10M |
| EV/Revenue | ||
| EV/EBITDA | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Optibus acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | ||
Optibus Competitors
Optibus competitors include listed companies like Wuxi Boton Technology and SureKAM Corporation, and private ones like Flock Freight, Loadsmart, Saic Anji Logistics Co., Ltd and Xpressbees.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Private | - | - | $1.3B | - | |
| Chicago, IL | Private | - | - | $1.3B | - | |
| China | Publicly listed | $516M | $55M | $1.3B | - | |
| China | Private | - | - | $1.4B | - | |
 Pune | Private | $271M | - | $1.4B | 5.2x | |
| China | Publicly listed | $1.2B | $93M | $1.7B | 1.0x |
Optibus Public Comps
Optibus is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Wuxi Boton Technology, Blackbuck, Keytop Parking, GuoChuang Software, Beijing eGova, Jiangsu Tongxingbao, JSTI, SureKAM Corporation, e-Hualu and Guotai Epoint Sofware.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $516M | $55M | 2.4x | - | 22.6x | - | |||
| $67M | $16M | 16.5x | 14.5x | 68.3x | 53.2x | |||
| $124M | $29M | 7.5x | - | 32.3x | - | |||
| $220M | ($17M) | 4.8x | - | (60.4x) | - | |||
| $90M | ($52M) | 8.4x | - | (14.5x) | - | |||
| $159M | $47M | 2.7x | - | 9.2x | - | |||
| $622M | $30M | 1.6x | 1.7x | 32.7x | 13.8x | |||
| $1.2B | $93M | 1.0x | 1.0x | 13.4x | 18.6x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Optibus competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Optibus
| When was Optibus founded? | Optibus was founded in 2014. |
| Where is Optibus headquartered? | Optibus is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. |
| Is Optibus publicly listed? | No, Optibus is a private, VC-backed company. |
| What is Optibus' valuation? | Optibus was last valued at $1.3B in its Series D in May 2022. |
| How much funding has Optibus raised? | Optibus has raised $260M across 5 funding rounds. |
| What was Optibus' last funding round? | Optibus' last funding round was a $100M Series D in May 2022. |
| Who are Optibus' investors? | Optibus' investors include Pitango VC, Verizon Ventures, Insight Partners, Sir Ronald Cohen, Bessemer Venture Partners, BlueRed Partners, New Era Capital Partners, State of Mind Ventures, Tencent, Dynamic Loop Capital and 1 other. |
| Which companies are comparable to Optibus? | Companies comparable to Optibus include Flock Freight, Loadsmart, Wuxi Boton Technology, Saic Anji Logistics Co., Ltd, Xpressbees and SureKAM Corporation. |
| How many companies has Optibus acquired? | Optibus has acquired 2 companies, including Datik and Trillium Solutions. |
| What was the largest acquisition by Optibus? | The $10M acquisition of Trillium Solutions in April 2022 is the largest acquisition Optibus has made to date. |
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