Shuttlers have reportedly raised $1.6M to continue bootstrapping its digital schedule bus-sharing brand for further expansion across Africa. The Nigerian-based mobility tech start-up company has been in the transport industry since 2016 with an unprecedented story of digitizing the Nigerian transport marketplace via mass transit bus-sharing tech platform.
The Shuttlers’ limelight is influenced by the outrageous population Nigeria currently accommodates — especially the Lagos-based transport marketplace the mobility start-up focused its digital scheduled bus-sharing business operations. Lagos has a convenient transport solution such as transiting with either bike (aka okada), short buses (danfo), and minibusses.
The mobility start-up company launched in 2017 with a different approach to transportation solutions. Unlike other brands that focused their mobility service on either ride-hailing or two-wheeler transport solutions, Shuttlers is leading the Nigerian digital mass transit bus-sharing marketplace. The funds Shuttlers acquired will bolster its mass transit mobility solution across Nigeria and beyond Africa.
Shuttlers utilized social media platforms such as WhatsApp quick Messenger and electronic mailing to schedule customers’ ride orders for a certain period at the time Shuttlers was newly developed.
Shuttlers chief executive, Damilola Olokesusi, confirmed the funds they reportedly received from diverse autonomous venture capital and investment companies to bolster its bootstrapped digital scheduled bus-sharing business. The likes of CcHub Syndicate, Interswitch, VestedWorld, EchoVC, and many more others have more than a penny invested in Shuttlers digitized schedule bus-sharing transport solutions.
At the time Shuttlers launched, Andela [a tech talent project for start-ups] initially assisted the scheduled bus-sharing startup to promote Shuttlers services as a Business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) digital transport solution. For contrast, Andela remotely helped Shuttlers to communicate with customers via its B2B2C business schemes which involve three optional plans for corporate clients, such as the B2B2C, B2B, and B2C.
Shuttlers B2B2C transport solution indulges, clients, to split transport fare between the company and its employees.
Shuttlers B2B transport solution requires its clients, the company to pay a 100% transport fare for its employees.
Shuttlers B2C transport solution requires the client to sort their transport fare individually.
Olokesusi’s comment about the funds Shuttlers received also serve as a subsidy scheme whereby commuters are entitled to its 80% discount Shuttlers CEO also highlighted the benefits of using its bus-sharing mobile app or website with modified features such as tracking its vehicles, digital payment [which is likely to be paired with a white-label payment gateway], alternative route suggestions per traffic congestion.
It is a no-brainer Shuttlers transportation solution is established to ensure mobility risk at its minimal whereby commuters need not jump in and out of vehicles on motion or endure a long queue for an available bus. “Every single time that our buses are on the road, we are reducing the number of cars on the road. We are also optimizing routes and reducing the number of buses and emissions on the road,” Olokesusi said.
Remember Shuttlers has been bootstrapping since it started in 2016, generating funds by grants from either friends or family. At the time the digital scheduled bus-sharing platform launched its mobile app in 2019, Shuttlers could boast of ten thousand users. The $1.6M Shuttlers received will sell more than the current 6000 bus tickets scheduled for a day, Techbooky reports.
