Busbud

Busbud is a travel website specializing in intercity bus tickets.[1]

Busbud
Type of site
Private
Founded2011
Headquarters
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Key peopleLP Maurice, CEO
IndustrySoftware, Travel, Internet
Employees60+ (2019)
URLwww.busbud.com

Busbud covers buses in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia.[2] Busbud is the bus travel booking website with the largest coverage, partnering with over 4,500 bus companies to provide a search engine and a booking platform via its website and mobile app. Busbud serves 21,000 cities with over 3.8 million bus routes in 84 countries.[3]

Company

History

Busbud was founded after CEO and co-founder, LP Maurice,[4] spent 2011 backpacking throughout South America. He faced many difficulties finding and booking reliable inter-city buses throughout the continent and began drafting a business plan on a 10-hour bus ride in Argentina. He then came back to Montreal and founded Busbud with longtime friends, Michael Gradek (CTO and Microsoft Bing veteran) and Frederic Thouin (CAO).[5] The company acts as a reseller, but also provides support on the bus tickets that are sold.[6]

Funding rounds and advisory board

Backed by venture and angel investors, Busbud has an advisory board made up of Expedia Board Member and Managing Partner of InterMedia Partners, Peter Kern; TripAdvisor VP of SEO, Luc Levesque; CEO of the travel startup Luxury Retreats, Joe Poulin,[7] and Orleans Express founder Sylvain Langis.

In May 2013, Busbud completed a seed round financing of $1.2 million, which was co-led by Canadian funds Inovia Capital and Real Ventures.[8]

In July, 2014, Busbud acquired another round of funding of $9 million, co-led by OMERS Ventures and Revolution Ventures. Busbud's plans include growing its in-house team, expanding its route territory, and developing an improved version of their iOS and Android mobile app.[9]

In January 2018, Busbud announced a US$11 Million Series B round of funding, led by iNovia Capital and included new investors Teralys, Claridge and Plaza Ventures, as well as Real Ventures. The capital will be used to fuel technology development, further grow the team and accelerate geographic expansion.[10]

Product and features

Busbud caters to local and international travelers by offering intercity bus routes in 80 countries. The Busbud platform is available on desktop, mobile web and through its mobile app, available on iOS through the Apple Store and on Android through the Google Play Store. The iOS app was released in April 2015[11] and the Android app was released in June 2015.[12]

In January 2017, Busbud added 6 more currencies on their platform, bringing the total of available currencies at 30[13].

In February 2017, Apple Pay was launched on Busbud's mobile & desktop platforms.[14] Following Apple Pay's success, Busbud launched Google Pay in 2019, allowing users to purchase intercity bus tickets with their favourite payment methods in 80 countries.

In January 2018, interconnected bus routes were released on the Busbud platforms, allowing travelers to find and book itineraries with multiple bus connections from different operators.[15] It allows travelers to combine different routes and operators with one another, unlocking a very large inventory of additional bus route options.

In April 2018, travel reviews were implemented [16] across Busbud's 3.8 million routes. For any departure offered on Busbud, it is possible to browse reviews and ratings from other Busbud customers who have traveled on that same route.

Inventory

In 2014, Busbud partnered with Greyhound, the largest North American provider of intercity bus transportation.[17][18].

A year later, in 2015, Busbud partnered with Flixbus, Europe's leading bus company. [19] This was followed by an expansion in South America with partnerships with bus companies in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay and Bolivia.[20]

In 2017, Busbud expanded to a new region by adding inventory in Southeast Asia with the addition of bus routes in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.[21]

In 2018, Busbud added more inventory in Southern Africa, with partnerships with local bus carriers in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.[22] The same year, Busbud added to its already extensive coverage in Europe by expanding to Portugal and partnering with the leading bus company in Portugal.[23]

In August 2018, Busbud integrated one of the largest bus companies in the world, Autobuses de Oriente (ADO), operating in Mexico. Tourists and travellers are able, for the first time, to buy their ADO tickets in their local currency and language, using their preferred method of payment. Busbud was the first international bus booking platform to offer this on the market. [24]

In November 2018, Busbud acquired Clickbus Turkey, the company which owns and operates Neredennereye.com.[25][26] This acquisition expanded Busbud's route coverage in Turkey.

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References
  1. "Revolution co-leads investment in Busbud, an online portal to purchase bus tickets". Washington Post.
  2. "Busbud Opens Platform to Asia with Launch of Routes Connecting 600 Cities". Techvibes. 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  3. "Bus travel platform Busbud races ahead with $11M investment | PhocusWire". www.phocuswire.com. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  4. "LP Maurice: A Turning Point for the Montreal Startup Ecosystem". WSJ. 2014-04-09.
  5. Quentin Casey (29 May 2013). "Busbud startup pools inter-city bus routes, schedules for travellers". Financial Post.
  6. "Busbud Help Desk - Answers to All Your Bus Travel Questions". Busbud's Official Website. March 18, 2016.
  7. "Canadian Startup Busbud Raises $1 Million from iNovia Capital and Real Ventures". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  8. "Busbud, The Kayak For Intercity Bus Travel, Raises $1M Round Led By iNovia Capital And Real Ventures". TechCrunch. AOL.
  9. Lora Kolodny (2014-07-09). "Busbud Raises $9 Million as Popularity of Intercity Bus Travel Increases". WSJ.
  10. "Busbud raises $14 million Series B with former Expedia CEO, Luxury Retreats investors". BetaKit. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  11. Maurice, L. P. (2015-04-28). "Busbud Launches New Bus Booking Mobile App for iOS". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  12. Maurice, L. P. (2015-06-23). "Busbud Launches New Bus Booking Mobile App for Android". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  13. Gradek, Mike (2017-01-11). "More currencies for your convenience". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  14. Petrovic, Dorian (2017-02-23). "Apple Pay is now available on Busbud". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  15. Bernard, Roxanne (2018-01-30). "Interconnected Bus Routes Now Available on Busbud". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  16. Busbud (2018-04-20). "Busbud Launches User-Powered Travel Reviews on Every Route". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  17. Nookala, Marthand. The cost efficiency of intercity rail and bus transportation in the Quebec City - Windsor corridor (Thesis). Carleton University. doi:10.22215/etd/1983-10775.
  18. Wong, Alain (2014-12-17). "Busbud Partners With Greyhound Bus Lines". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  19. Petrovic, Dorian (2015-09-24). "Busbud partners with Flixbus". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  20. Petrovic, Dorian (2015-11-12). "Busbud expands its bus coverage in South America". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  21. Turcotte, Noemie (2017-07-20). "Busbud Expands into Southeast Asia". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  22. Turcotte, Noemie (2018-01-29). "Busbud Expands its Coverage in Southern Africa". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  23. Turcotte, Noemie (2018-07-10). "Busbud Expands into Portugal and Partners with Rede Expressos". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  24. Bernard, Roxanne (2018-08-31). "Busbud Expands its Coverage in Mexico and Partners with ADO". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  25. Hari, Neha (2018-11-19). "Canadian bus travel provider Busbud acquires Neredennereye.com | Clickbus Turkey". Asia Pacific Internet Group. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  26. Maurice, L. P. (2018-11-12). "From Here to There: Busbud Expands in Turkey with Acquisition of Neredennereye.com". Busbud blog. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
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