Cape Town and London-based public transport data and technology company, WhereIsMyTransport, has secured an additional \u00a31.2 million (R20 million)\u00a0 in seed funding.<\/p>\n
Originally founded in South Africa, WhereIsMyTransport, announced an investment from the Global Innovation Fund (GIF), Goodwell Investments and Bombardier.<\/p>\n
The investment has been secured as the company completes the digital mapping of informally run public transport in South Africa\u2019s major metropolitan areas.<\/p>\n
In August last year, WhereIsMyTransport announced an investment of \u00a31.165 million from Goodwell Ventures, together with the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm created by eBay\u2019s founder, and Horizen Ventures, as the first closing of a \u00a32 million Seed Round.<\/p>\n
The company estimates that transport uncertainty in South Africa alone costs the country $104 billion every year.<\/p>\n
Its transit application program interface (API) has been built on Microsoft\u2019s Azure cloud platform, to leverage Microsoft\u2019s Platform-as-a-Service solutions, and combines data on formal and informal transportation from static and real-time sources.<\/p>\n
This means that any transportation mode can be mapped and analysed through the API -whether it\u2019s city buses, metro systems or privately owned buses and minibus taxis.<\/p>\n
The platform will support the development of journey-planning applications for websites and smartphones, fare estimators, analytics for more informed infrastructure investment and city planning, and messaging capabilities to help optimise journeys affected by delays and cancellations.<\/p>\n