Getting from A to (Series) B
Announcing our fundraise and the future of Citymapper
1- We’ve just raised a $40M Series B from Index Ventures (Dom Vidal), Benchmark Capital (Peter Fenton) and others including Yuri Milner and Michael Lynton, with great terms, including the investors promising to only take buses from now on.
2- We will use the funds to continue our mission of making cities easier to use. We want a big city to feel like a little village. We believe smartphones and city data change how citydwellers get access to knowledge when and where they need it, and interact with their cities. Also.. now we can stock up the fridge.. and buy some robots..
3- The ultimate transport app is not finished yet. We will continue to reinvent the category and invest heavily in the core product, while aiming to keep things simple. Stay tuned, it’s going to get interesting..
4- The SuperRouter (our unique A to B route planning algorithm) is going next-level. We’re rewriting it to accommodate the future of cities. One that is more realtime (using the actual state of the network at any minute, including disruptions), more human (tuned to what we really do in cities, personal and customisable), and more multimodal (mixing up modes including non-transit).
In fact, we have a crazy plan to completely reinvent how A to B transit navigation works, making it even more effortless to get around.
5- Open data is not enough. We’ve wanted to do a better job of getting our cities and their information right. So we built the BATCAVE. Our most important product is one that you’ve never seen. It’s in the background: a massive toolset/ control center with a variety of functionality that allows anyone to:
- Fix transit data from the agencies.
- Create missing data, modes, or even entire cities- we’ve written about this before.
- Manage realtime issues- such as Strikes.
- Add all the extra data that makes a difference- e.g. station exits, where to sit on the train, etc.
And guess what the mobile version of Batcave is called? The BATMOBILE! Duh.
6- We must solve the more complicated cities, including the emerging markets. We’re currently in about 30 major metropolises around the world. Cities fascinate us, and as we expand, each new one changes how we think about the app, data, human movement, and navigation. We’ve learned that cities are similar. And also that cities are different, and unique in their own ways.
It’s not just about London, NYC and Paris anymore. The next set of challenges involve the massive emerging market cities where the infrastructure is limited, rules of transit are different, data is sparse, and even the consumer approach to smartphones and apps is not the same. But this is also where some of our most rewarding work is being done.
7- We need more HEROES in this world. To help us launch, manage and scale cities, and show them tender loving care. Robots can’t do everything, unfortunately.
We’re hiring in every significant metro city in the world. Lets just call it a General Manager position? This could be your great opportunity to be the Founder of your city, make a massive impact, save lives, become famous (maybe, probably not) and join a great community of other city lovers. Reach out here.
8- Citymapper is for Everyone. We’re a utility, that could be useful to anyone building anything. We’re developing our API/Widgets so that YOU! can use our tools to power your own websites, applications, or whatever else you may have in mind.
Check them out at Citymapper.com/API, and take them for a spin. There will be many new ones coming too. Any requests? We’re listening..
9- There will be more products. And they may not be what you think. We can’t tell you anything yet… Ok fine we’ll give you a couple of teasers since you did read this far:
SecretRobot. Some of you may have seen it already. But what else can it do? Hopefully soon it becomes NotSoSecretRobot.
Caterpillar. A completely new product that should launch in 2016. It changes everything. Caterpillar is top secret hush hush.
10- We’re lucky that we can work on building something that is fundamentally useful and essential, that we use ourselves daily, that empowers us all to use our cities infrastructure more efficiently, and that helps a large cross section of society.
Not everybody gets this chance. We recognise and appreciate our responsibility, and we hope that we can do it well. Thanks for helping us get here.
11- We’re not a unicorn. We’re more like a dolphin🐬.
- Check us out at Citymapper.com or Citymapper.com/apps.
- Keep in touch with us here.
- Join us at Citymapper.com/jobs. This would probably be a pretty good time since we need to spend this loot.
