Populus offers a software-as-a-service platform that collects data from shared fleets (scooters, e-bikes, car-sharing) and other mobility providers and shares that information with cities, mapping platforms and third parties via an API. The product is used by more than 100 cities across the U.S. and Israel and has expanded into commercial fleets, ride-hail and autonomous-vehicle use cases. Its curb management feature gives cities visibility into curb usage so they can set dynamic pricing, manage congestion and craft parking policies that can be enforced through the platform. Populus says curb data can steer fleet operators to lower-conflict parking areas and incentivize smaller, more carbon-efficient delivery modes, aiding emissions and air-quality goals. The company is pursuing pilots in major European cities while remaining mostly based in North America and headquartered in San Francisco. Populus has about 25 employees and plans to double headcount over the next year; it will use new capital to scale its core product, expand curb management software and make strategic hires. Populus provides a software-as-a-service platform that pulls telemetry from fleets of shared e-bikes, scooters, mopeds and car-sharing vehicles and delivers that data to cities and regulators. Cities use the Populus API to share rules of the road, preferred parking areas, bike-lane information and other policy data with mapping platforms and third parties. Last year the company added a street manager feature for communicating temporary policies (slow/shared streets, outdoor dining, construction) and a curb management feature that enables cities to set dynamic pricing and manage commercial delivery demand. Populus has contracts with more than 80 cities — including Oakland, San Diego and Tel Aviv — and works with over 25 micromobility operators. The company plans to use new capital to expand to more cities and aims to triple its city footprint over the next 18 months. Populus was founded in 2017 and is based in San Francisco; it has raised nearly $9 million to date. Populus provides a platform that securely ingests and hosts vehicle and trip data from shared-mobility operators and offers tools for cities and operators to analyze usage patterns. The product enables city planners to view where people park and ride scooters and bikes to inform placement of parking areas, bike lanes and curbside management. Populus also offers real-time rideshare data to support curb pricing and management, and it sells the platform on a subscription basis to cities and operators. The company works with jurisdictions including Arlington County, Washington, D.C., and cities in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles regions, and it partnered with Lime to facilitate data sharing from LimePod. Populus launched its core product in September 2018; CEO and co-founder Regina Clewlow and co-founder Fletcher Foti previously worked together on transportation forecasting starting in 2012. Financially, the company has raised a total of $3.85 million to date.

Total raised

$19M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Aug 2022