The news broke on Thursday 18 April… The Rotterdam-based umob platform has reached a new milestone… By acquiring MaaS Global, the Finnish company that created the MaaS application, Whim. This deal is not just a commercial transaction… It is a giant step towards further integrating global urban mobility into a single application. Find out more about umob’s ambitions and prospects through this strategic investment.
umob strengthens its European influence
umob is taking on a new dimension with the acquisition of MaaS Global. This acquisition will enable the Dutch company to continue developing the Whim application under its own brand. And it will do so by capitalising on the experience accumulated by MaaS Global over the last decade. Indeed, despite its recent bankruptcy, MaaS Global made its mark with the deployment of Whim. This was the first MaaS application to revolutionise mobility in many cities by offering users the possibility of planning and booking their journeys seamlessly using a single application. These include Helsinki, Tokyo, Vienna, Antwerp, Turku, Birmingham and several Swiss cities.
Whim has raised $70 million and invested €40 million in its software development. It has attracted more than one million customers and completed more than 31 million journeys. Not to mention more than 60 full integrations with some of the world’s leading mobility providers. The integration of MaaS Global’s technologies and skills will considerably enhance umob’s services and significantly accelerate its expansion.
The acquisition of MaaS Global represents an acceleration in our mission to make umob a global MaaS platform. We launched gradually in the Netherlands last year so that we could optimise our application, but we are now growing rapidly. Our aim is to integrate all forms of mobility. Joining forces with MaaS Global, which has undoubtedly integrated more forms of transport than anyone else in the world, will enable us to expand more rapidly across Europe.
RAYMON POUWELS, CO-FOUNDER OF UMOB
Towards integrated, simplified mobility
umob’s MaaS platform completely centralises mobility services, enabling users to plan and book their journeys via a single application. All while guaranteeing the original fares of the various service providers. This complete integration requires close collaboration not only with mobility providers, but also with local authorities committed to solving the challenges associated with urban mobility. To support this effort, umob raised $6.5M in October 2023 to facilitate these initiatives in the Netherlands. By way of illustration, umob has recently integrated shared mobility providers in addition to public transport and taxi services. These are Cooltra, Donkey Republic and GO Sharing.
By integrating all mobility providers into a single application, we’re not only making it easier for everyone to get around, we’re also making mobility challenges more transparent so that municipalities can solve them. We use data – anonymised, of course – to map travel patterns, identify bottlenecks and opportunities to make transport more sustainable. The acquisition of MaaS Global is also about knowledge and, importantly for us in today’s job market, experienced specialists capable of solving the challenges of global mobility.
BIBI JORISSEN, CO-FOUNDER OF UMOB.
