What happened: Spare Labs Inc. raises $6 million in seed funding round led by Mitsubishi Corporation
Why it matters: Spare’s technology is helping cities and transit authorities manage transportation networks more efficiently and enable multimodal trip planning
A Vancouver-based startup specializing in software that makes it easier for cities and transit agencies to manage transportation networks is getting a big boost from a global player.
Spare Labs Inc. announced Tuesday (April 30) it’s raised $6 million in a seed funding round led by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation.
Spare CEO Kristoffer Vik Hansen said the capital injection would help the company expand its technology offerings and boost its headcount from 11 employees to 25-30 employees by year’s end.
Spare’s platform is used to operate on-demand transit services on three continents.
Instead of transit users relying on fixed-route services — systems that follow designated routes on fixed schedules — transit services would bend towards customer demand in real time.
“Up until now the common way that pretty much all cities have solved transportation is through a fixed-route service,” Vik Hansen said.
“But with the advent of new technology there’s a whole range of things.”
While the platform is also used to manage traditional fixed-route services, it can be integrated with car-sharing, ride-hailing, taxis and other services to better facilitate multimodal transportation.
“That’s kind of what we’re solving: making it possible for these transportation operators to quickly launch new types of transportation,” Vik Hansen, adding the startup has been profitable since 2016.
Its core customers are cities and transit agencies, with its largest customer being Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART).
“Spare has been integral to the rollout of our updated GoPass app, DART’s multimodal trip-planning platform,” DART president Gary Thomas said in a statement.
“Spare enables us to easily plan and operate new on-demand GoLink services, and facilitate seamless connections for passengers using DART bus and rail.”
Vik Hansen said Spare has reached out to TransLink but the local transportation authority has yet to bite.
Meantime, in addition to leading the seed-funding round, Mitsubishi Corporation is partnering with Spare to provide software for commercial on-demand transit services in Japan.
“Through our collaboration, we believe Spare and Mitsubishi Corporation will be well-positioned for the explosive growth in demand for mobility services that will contribute positively to society,” Mitsubishi senior vice-president Shigeru Wakabayashi said in a statement.
Spare has one office in Japan and one office in Norway.
But Vik Hansen said most of the growth stemming from the $6-million raise would be taking place at the company’s Vancouver headquarters.
