Mobile transport smartphone app Citymapper is set to launch in new worldwide cities after securing the backing of Balderton Capital, Connect Ventures, Index Ventures and Greylock Partners.
The start-ups app is now available in four cities (London, New York, Berlin and Paris) and covers all forms of transport. Calculated are the quickest route, options of transport, cost and calories burned.
According to a statement from the company, ‘Cities are where we live, work, play and breathe. We want to get them right. And we recognise that the only way to do so in multiple places around the world is to empower the locals and give them tools.’
Prior to the company’s $10 million Series A, an undisclosed seed round involving Connect Ventures was closed in 2012.
Bernard Liautaud, general partner at Balderton Capital, says that the firm has been tracking Citymapper since it was operating as Busmapper in 2011.
‘We have always been impressed by the single-minded focus on product quality throughout the company, led by the founder Azmat Yusuf.
‘This product particularly shines in two areas which we think are crucial in an app-based world: removing friction, and distinctiveness of voice.’
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Despite only covering London in the UK, statistics show that Citymapper is Britain’s third most downloaded iPhone app in the navigation category.
New backer Balderton Capital counts the likes of WorldStores, Wonga and Natural Motion as portfolio companies and has, since 2000, backed over 100 companies. At the beginning of April, the firm closed a new $305 million investment fund aimed at European start-ups.
