South African mobility startup WhereIsMyStartup has wound down operations after it failed to secure a new funding round.
The company’s CEO Devin De Fries via a LinkedIn post revealed this while acknowledging several investors that backed the startup since its inception.
He said,
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“Having failed to raise our round, we’ve ceased our operations. I extend my gratitude to our investors for their support throughout our journey their backing was crucial to our endeavors. I also thank our dedicated team for their commitment and hard work in pursuing our mission.”
Founded in 2016, WhereIsMyStartup started in South Africa with a focus on becoming a central source of accurate and reliable public transport data for high-growth markets.
The startup had mapped a formal and informal public transport network and used the data to improve the public transport experience, with the aim to make commuting safe and accessible for people.
The startup began to collect local transport data in developing nations where public transport varies from unreliable to non-existent. Many people in these areas depend on private taxi services or friends and relatives to get around.
WhereIsMyTransport works with both local authorities and enterprises to standardize and map local transport routes, making them more accessible.
In South Africa, WhereIsMyTransport’s clients include the Johannesburg commuter rail system Gautrain and Transport for Cape Town. On the other hand, its international client base includes Google, the World Bank, and WSP, amongst several others, which used its data to examine access to job opportunities Vai public transport in 12 African cities.
In 2019, the startup mapped 34 cities in Africa while actively mapping some in India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Since then, it expanded into Mexico City and has completed multiple data, production projects in the city alongside Lima, Bangkok, Gauteng, and Dhaka.
In the same year, WherelsMyTransport also launched its first consumer product Rumbo, which provides network information from all modes of public transport in Mexico with more than 100,000 users delivering over 750,000 real-time network alerts.
Fast forward to 2021, the startup announced a $14.5 million Series A extension which was Co-led by Naspers Foundry to continue its expansion across emerging markets.
The extension round is coming a year after WhereIsMyTransport had previously successfully raised a $7.5 million Series A investment from VC firms and strategic investment from Google, Nedbank, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC).
In May 2022, the startup announced that it had mapped 50 cities across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Europe, and Asia. It is also worth noting that it was an alumnus of the now-defunct Naspers Foundry.