After Phenikaa’s funding round, BusMap became a member and was renamed Phenikaa MaaS.
Founder and CEO of BusMap, now CEO of Phenikaa MaaS, Le Yen Thanh, said that the decision to receive capital from a corporation instead of an investment fund because this startup has the same vision and realizes the development opportunity to “stand on the top” the role of a giant”.
Accordingly, Phenikaa is orienting to develop into a high-tech corporation with many different business segments, including self-driving cars or Internet of Things (IoT) applications. This vision creates an opportunity for BusMap to participate in smart transportation and smart cities. CEO Le Yen Thanh also upholds the goal of sustainable development in terms of people and technology.
“If we go with Phenikaa, we will get resources and join the ecosystem attitude of the group, thereby developing faster and stronger”, the founder told VnExpress.
Phenikaa’s side said that they are always looking for and developing research and development projects for new technologies, and start-ups that are groundbreaking, and bring practical benefits to the community. “Through the BusMap traffic application, we appreciate the talent and dedication of the young Vietnamese team in proactively creating and holding core technology,” the corporation representative shared.
An interface that suggests bus routes in Ho Chi Minh City of BusMap. Photo: Phenikka.
BusMap was born in 2013, is the startup of a group of technicians led by Le Yen Thanh. Initially, this was a free city bus map lookup application, then developed a real-time route update feature, helping users optimize their travel journey.
This application is built on the core technology of digital maps, integrates artificial intelligence and upgrades the predictive algorithm, allowing users to access the inner city bus map system, thereby finding the shortest travel option with the lowest cost and time.
BusMap now has more than 2 million users, making more than 50 million trips and becoming the leading free public transport app in Vietnam. At the end of 2020, BusMap won the title of “Smart Cities under ITU Digital World Awards” organized by the International Telecommunication Union.
After becoming a member unit of Phenikaa Group and a part of Phenikaa ecosystem, Phenikaa MaaS will promote restructuring and development of products and services to businesses and organizations with needs. to expand the target audience. Thus, Phenikaa Maas is not only encapsulated in the inner-city passenger bus service industry, but also expands to other areas of the public transport industry such as trains, trams, waterways…