Via, a US-based on-demand transit company, has received a $27m series B round from a consortium including Hearst Ventures, an investment unit of media group Hearst Corporation.
Hearst Ventures was joined in the round by venture capital firms Pitango Venture Capital, Ervington Investments and 83North. 83North, formerly Greylock IL, also invested in the company’s $10.1m series A round in March 2014 with venture capital firms RiverPark Ventures and Expansion Venture Capital.
Via allows users of its smartphone app to book transportation in luxury shared vehicles. As the cost of transportation is shared with other travellers it becomes more affordable. Currently the company charges $5 to those who have prepaid or $7 to those who have not.
The funding from this round will be used to expand the company and increase the size of the Via team.
Daniel Ramot and Oren Shoval, co-founders of Via, said: “Our goal is to transform public transit from a regulated system of rigid routes and schedules to a fully dynamic, on-demand network.
“We believe the future of urban transit systems will rely on dynamic technology like ours to make it easier and more efficient to get around town, and after operating a very successful service in New York City, we are excited to use this infusion of capital to provide new services and roll out to new markets very rapidly.”