QuickBus, a Kenyan online bus booking and ticketing startup has raised undisclosed seed investment led by Shorooq Partners, a venture fund based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
QuickBus allows Africans to easily book bus tickets at a click or through their smartphone or a basic feature phone, from the convenience of their homes and offices. QuickBus also makes it possible for people to make informed decisions by reading reviews before they select which bus to book.
The funding round in the Kenyan online bus booking platform, QuickBus was joined by investors including EchoVC and the Oman Technology Fund (OTF).
Founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of QuickBus, Humphrey Wrey, commented: “When you book a bus, you should know more than the price and the destination, you should also know more about the experience you’re going to have.
“That’s how it is in other parts of the world and Africa shouldn’t be any different.”
Aside from Kenya, QuickBus is also present in Uganda, and Angola and the online bus booking platform has secured partnerships to expand into seven major markets across Africa. A major objective of these expansion plans to cover most of the sub-Saharan Africa region within three years.
On his part Kunal Savjani, Partner at Shorooq Partners said: “Having grown up and operated businesses in the region, I have experienced first-hand that the opportunity in the long-distance mobility space in Africa is massive and having seen this segment disrupted in other emerging markets we were actively studying the East African market to see who was leading the way.
“This is when we met QuickBus and its strong management team, which made us firm believers in their ability to execute and dominate this space.”
It won’t be a cinderella ride for QuickBus as there are other online bus booking startups in Kenya it has to compete it including BuuPass, Swvl, and BusCar among many others.
