Sn-ap Travel Technology has closed a £3.4m funding round which it will use to roll out its service nationwide.
The London-based company has developed a machine learning platform that matches demand for coach services to premium providers.
This means that travellers have more choices on the dates, times and routes and the coaches only operate at times of highest demand using the best coaches and drivers from independent coach operators.
Travellers can then make a convenient journey at a fair price and coach operators can fill their vehicles.
The investment was led by ADV and Oxford Capital who join existing investors Kindred Capital and industry angels, bringing the company’s total investment to £6m in just 20 months.
The service is already live in Bristol, Cardiff and Nottingham and the company will use the funds to roll out to another four UK cities in the next five months.
By the summer, Sn-ap predicts over 100,000 people will be on-demand intercity coach travellers.
“Intercity travellers have had to put up with poor service, high fares and the constraints of fixed routes and timetables for too long,” said founder Thomas Ableman.
“We are bringing the power of technology to give them the quality and service they deserve.”
Tom Bradley of Oxford Capital added: “For years, Governments have talked about Integrated Transport as the future of mobility. And through it all, failed to give customers a truly great travel experience.
“By working with small, independent operators but with a high quality tech overlay, Sn-ap can give people the very best.
“You might call it ‘disintegrated transport’ – as it uses lots of small firms but in a consistent and integrated way that is better for customers and for our transport network as a whole.”