Via Transportation, Inc. also known as Via is a privately held American transportation network and real-time ridesharing company based in New York City. The company was founded in June 2012, by Daniel Ramot and Oren Shoval, the company's mobile-phone application facilitates group travel for a flat rate. Via operates in the all five boroughs of New York city, areas of Chicago, and Washington DC. The company's technology is used in ridesharing projects in Paris, United Kingdom, and Austin, Texas.
As of June 2017, it was reported that Via had raised $137 million in financing to date.
Video Via (company)
History and funding
Via was founded in 2012 by Israeli entrepreneurs Daniel Ramot and Oren Shoval. The service is based on the founders' experience with Sherut taxis in Israel. The service originally operated exclusively in Manhattan, before expanding to Chicago in November 2015.
In April 2015, Via completed a $27 million Series B financing round. In May 2016, Via completed a $70 million financing round led by Israeli investment firm Pitango, C4 Ventures, Hearst Ventures and Roman Abramovich bringing its total funding to over $107 million. In August 2016, Via launched its service in Washington D.C.
Via launched a partnership with the French transportation company, Keolis in January 2017. The partnership uses Via's technology to a shared ride service operated by Keolis subsidiary LeCab. That same year, Arriva UK Bus in the United Kingdom and Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Austin, Texas partnered with Via under similar agreements. In June 2017, Via partnered with Curb to allow users to hail a yellow taxi for a shared ride in certain areas of Manhattan.
Maps Via (company)
Service
Via's focus is pooled transportation, matching multiple passengers headed in the same direction with an available vehicle. Via is headquartered in New York with offices in Tel Aviv, Chicago and Washington D.C.
In order to expedite service, passengers are picked up and dropped off on the corner of a block nearest to their pickup and drop-off locations, as opposed to the exact addresses. The service operates more like a dynamic bus line than a taxi service, and charges users a flat rate for a ride. The Via service is approved for use with commuter benefit cards.
Reception
A reviewer for The New York Times in March 2015 wrote, "The S.U.V. that picked me up for Via, with one other passenger already in tow, was neither as fast nor as efficient as a service like Uber. But it was friendlier and, as it tends to carry multiple passengers at once, more community-minded than any other car service I've taken. And with a flat rate of $5 a ride, it was cheaper, too."
Via's carpooling has also been profiled for facilitating networking among passengers.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments