Rotterdam-based booking platform umob, which combines local and international mobility providers in one single app, announced today they raised €3.5 million in a new funding round to accelerate the growth of sustainable mobility in Europe.
This latest €3.5 million funding round follows a previous round of €6 million at the end of 2023. Shortly after, umob acquired the Finnish company MaaS Global, which was considered the world’s first MaaS, and its app ‘Whim’, the first commercial Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform. MaaS Global had previously raised €70 million from, among others, BP Ventures, Toyota, and Mitsubishi.
Bibi Jorissen, CEO and Co-founder of umob, says: “We have spent the past few years building a solid and scalable platform that truly makes traveling with different mobility providers easier for both consumers and business users. The newly raised capital enables us to fully focus on growth: by building upon our strong international relationships, we aim to further expand our services throughout the continent, stimulating the growth of sustainable and accessible mobility.”
Founded in 2021 by Bibi Jorissen and Raymon Pouwels, umob is a MaaS platform that combines mobility providers through full integration into one app. Their mission is to combat traffic jams, congestion, emissions and an abundance of parked cars by providing an uncomplicated alternative to owning a vehicle.
Jorissen (CEO) brings prior experience in the mobility sector from companies such as General Motors and Greenwheels. Pouwels (CCO) has raised over €100 million in funds for several startups and was the former CEO and co-founder of GO Sharing, one of the largest providers of shared scooters and bikes in the Netherlands.
It offers access to public transport, taxis and shared transport, including shared scooters, (electric) bicycles and cars, through a single account. umob’s ambition is to grow into a European MaaS platform and become the link between governments and providers to overcome the mobility challenges in cities.
umob believes that the demand for MaaS solutions is growing, driven by increasing challenges to manage limited space in urban environments. Cities are pursuing sustainability goals and seeking to create more inclusive and flexible mobility options. umob aims to provide an answer to these urban mobility challenges.
Its international booking platform reportedly fully integrates all transport, allowing travel to be planned and paid for through one single app, even when a journey involves multiple modes of transportation.
With the new funding, the company aims to continue expanding its service in major cities both domestically and internationally, having already set foot in eleven countries throughout Europe.
Raymon Pouwels, CCO and Co-founder of umob, adds: “What started as a vision has quickly grown to become a powerful technical solution developed fully in-house, positioning umob as a strategic partner for municipalities and mobility providers. With the support of our investors, we are now preparing for the next chapter: fully integrating European travel services in one single platform.”
Since launching the platform in February 2024, umob has reportedly experienced strong growth in its domestic market, as well as early expansion in key European markets including Germany, France and Spain. The platform offers access to more than 500,000 shared mobility vehicles provided by companies such as Lime, Bird and Cooltra, complete public transport networks in multiple Western-European countries, and all major European taxi providers.
