With coach trips and public transport expected to see strong growth across Europe in the coming years, AI for bus maintenance and passenger services becomes an absolute necessity. This is where Munich-based mobility startup AWAKE Mobility steps in. The startup has raised €4 million in funding to develop AI-driven software to monitor the condition of bus fleets.
Leading the round was B&C Innovation Investments (BCII), which is part of Austria’s B&C Group, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), SEK Ventures (the investment firm of Flixbus’ founders), Joachim Drees (former CEO of MAN Truck & Bus), Carl-Peter Forster (former President/CEO of General Motors Europe, former CEO of Tata Motors, former member of the BMW Board of Management) and Synapse Partners from Silicon Valley.
The new funding will be utilised to launch new services for customers in the next few months.
Founded in 2020, the German platform has developed a hardware and software solution to facilitate the process of harnessing real-time vehicle data to make bus services more reliable. The technology remotely monitors the condition of buses to understand when it’s time for a trip to the workshop. The insights about the vehicles’ condition can feed into recommendations for mechanics, which can help reduce vehicle downtimes, repair costs, fuel consumption and emissions.
The live monitoring also ensures that buses are more punctual, which increases customer satisfaction.
Daniel Tyoschitz, co-founder and CEO of AWAKE Mobility said: “This capital increase supports the further technical development of our hardware and software platform and will thus help us to launch new services for our customers. We are also looking to rapidly accelerate the expansion of our company.”
B&C managing director Thomas Zimpfer added: “For bus fleets and local public transport, we strongly believe that reliability, cost efficiency, and eco-friendliness are highly relevant factors for Europe, both economically and structurally. Through our investment, we are looking to accelerate the digitalisation of the bus industry and local public transport services – a process that has only just begun.”
AWAKE Mobility’s customer base already includes bus companies and fleets in three European countries, including Autobus Oberbayern and VAG Nürnberg.
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