INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Shuttl, a service that lets Indian city dwellers find seats on multiple bus routes through one app, announced today that it has raised a $11
million Series B led by Amazon India, Amazon Alexa Fund and Dentsu Ventures
Returning investors Sequoia Capital, Times Internet and Lightspeed Ventures also participated.The Gurgaon-based startup last round of
funding was a $20 million Series A announced in December 2015, just eight months after it launched.The Amazon Alexa Fund was created in 2016
to fund new voice technology
One of Shuttl most interesting features is &Chirp,& which verifies passengers by sending a sound from their mobile phones to the driver
The idea is that &chirping& is quicker than using tickets or passes and can therefore decrease delays on bus routes
The feature is powered by startup Chirp.io, which recently released a free version of its SDK.Shuttl, which is owned by Super Highway Labs,
was created with the goal of reducing pollution and traffic in major cities like Delhi by encouraging people to take public transportation
In order to compete with Uber and Ola, its tech platform optimizes routes and capacity, while its app enables users to track the location of
their bus, giving them similar convenience and reliability to on-demand ride services (as long as they remember to book their seat a day in
advance).Shuttl platform now includes 800 buses and it claims to have 60,000 monthly active users and provide 45,000 rides per day in five
Its new funding will be used to expand into two new cities.
