Zoba runs a behind-the-scenes logic layer that integrates with operators’ fleet management systems, using machine learning to forecast demand and an optimization engine to decide vehicle positions, pricing incentives, and operational tasks. The platform reconstructs demand histories from operators’ historical data and ingests environmental inputs such as road networks and granular weather data (Tomorrow.io) to predict near-term demand. Zoba’s technology is plugged into the back ends of over 150,000 vehicles across 150 cities, primarily in the U.S. and Europe, and it works with large operators including Spin. The company reports operators using its platform have seen ridership increase by 20%–50% and labor productivity improve by about 20%. Zoba said it will use recent funding to scale go-to-market functions including customer support, sales, and marketing as it expands into new markets like India and Latin America. The startup also plans to expand into new verticals such as delivery and potentially autonomous ride-hailing. Zoba’s leadership describes the company as a deep-tech business and intends to continue investing to widen its technical lead. Zoba uses spatial analytics and machine learning to model relationships between demand and environmental data, as well as city layout, to help mobility operators place vehicles more efficiently. The company’s core product focuses on forecasting demand for scooters, bikes and eventually ride-hailing, and it aims to make spatial and temporal analysis accessible to ordinary data scientists. Co-founder Dan Brennan said mobility is Zoba’s first focus, and the company would not disclose which partners it is working with, only noting relationships with industry leaders in bike, scooter and car share. Down the road Zoba plans to expand to on-demand delivery and urban logistics companies. To support its mission Zoba raised a $3 million seed round led by CRV with participation from Founder Collective, Mark Cuban and others. CRV general partner and Zoba board member Izhar Armony said the team is well-positioned to tackle geo-based forecasting and optimization for the growing smart mobility and logistics market.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Oct 2021