Skift Take
Busbud sets itself apart from other bus travel startups in both the breadth of its inventory and the markets it is going after, especially South America where bus travel is more common than the U.S.
Busbud, a travel search and booking platform built for the bus industry, announced today a $9 million fundraising round led by OMERS Ventures and Revolution Ventures.
This brings Busbud’s total funding to $10.2 million. Previous investors iNovia Capital and Real Ventures also participated in this latest round.
Busbud’s booking platform aggregates schedules for almost 1,500 companies spanning 10,460 cities and 89 countries worldwide. The company’s goal is to make booking bus travel as easy as purchasing an airline ticket online.
That’s a reality that until recently was unimaginable in markets most reliant on bus travel, particularly South America where Busbud is most focused.
The investment will be used to expand geographically, add sales representatives, and build out a smartphone app — a necessary feature in today’s booking landscape.
Competition
Busbud is far from the only startup that wants to take bus travel into the digital age. Wanderu and Bustripping are building similar platforms, currently focused on the U.S. market.
Wanderu recently secured a partnership with Greyhound; however, Greyhound CEO David Leach has been underwhelmed by digital booking demand and remains unconvinced that this new crop of bus travel startup will succeed.
“I don’t see it going as big as some of the startups say they’ll go, because the industry isn’t as big as you might think,” Leach told Skift in an interview last month.
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