Citymapper

Citymapper is a city transport information mobile app that allows commuters to plan their commutes across a variety of transport methods including subway, bus, rail, cabs, cycles, and scooters.

In February 2020, Citymapper launched an annual subscription service, Citymapper Club which provides app personalization options. In 2022, the company implemented advertisements as a means of generating revenue for its app, while still keeping the core features of the app free.

Citymapper’s edge over its peers is its access to thousands of public and private transport feeds to provide real-time information on arrival and departure times, traffic conditions, and dynamic pricing. This is coupled with an algorithm that has been trained using billions of real user choices to recommend the optimal transport route and modes of transport for commuters.

In March 2023, Citymapper was acquired by Via, the mobility platform Transit Tech developer. Despite the acquisition, Citymapper's app will continue operating independently, available worldwide. In July 2023, the discontinuation of self-serve SDKs and APIs was announced, along with the cessation of the PASS service. This shift reflects a renewed focus on strengthening the B2C aspect. In October 2019, Citymapper entered the contactless travel card space with "Citypass," which offers a one-stop-shop travel card covering a number of transport modes. Available in the UK, the card offers a cheaper alternative to the contactless travel card offered by London’s public transport service Transport for London (TFL). The shift towards enterprise solutions began in 2020, providing SDKs and APIs for customized mobility solutions, collaborating with firms like Zenly and transport operators. In line with this, Citymapper introduced a  global walk routing feature   , as well as a  global cycle routing feature   allowing enterprise users to add walking and cycling directions and voice-enabled turn-by-turn navigation to their transport planning apps.

Key customers and partnerships

As of March 2022, the app, which is free to download, is used by 50 million+ commuters and is available in ~80 cities in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Brazil.

Funding and financials

Citymapper raised GBP 6.7 million (~USD 8.2 million) in an equity crowdfunding round in May 2021. This was significantly higher than the GBP 1 million target set by the firm, which saw participation from ~9,000 retail investors across 80 countries. The funds were to be used to further expand the city coverage of its apps while continuing to improve Citypass by adding more features, integrating more transport modes, and exploring a possible international expansion. According to some reports, the firm had opted for an equity crowdfunding round, as it failed to secure Series C funding in 2018.

As of May 2021, the firm had a pre-money valuation of GBP 191 million (~USD 235 million). Citymapper experienced an increased operating loss of GBP 8.1 million in 2021, in comparison to the previous year's operating loss of GBP 7.3 million. The company's revenue remained stagnant during this period. The firm also recorded revenue of GBP 5.8 million (~USD 7.9 million—a 14% YoY drop) in 2020 and a loss of ~GBP 9 million (~USD 11.8 million) in 2019.