Citi Ventures Backs Zūm as the School Transportation Startup Expands into Dallas

Zūm provides a safe, reliable and flexible child transportation service that reduces annual costs by up to 40 percent, helping schools put funds back into education programs

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Zūm

Apr 30, 2019, 09:00 ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Zūm, the leading logistics platform for safe and reliable rides for school districts and busy families, today announced it secured additional funding from new investor Citi Ventures to help double its national footprint by 2020, starting with newly available service in Dallas, Texas. Zūm provides more flexibility and efficiency in student transportation by supplementing the yellow school bus with a fleet of cars and vans to handle daily student commuting, extracurricular trips and after-school activities. The investment from Citi Ventures will help Zūm accelerate growth initiatives and pursue new strategic partnerships, and adds to the company's Series C round of $40 million led by BMW i Ventures and supported by other new investors NGP Capital, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Clearvision, Draper Nexus and existing investors Sequoia Capital and Spark Capital.

Zūm has saved California schools $15 million in the past 18 months with its network of highly-vetted drivers and advanced scheduling to safely transport children to school and back. The company signed up more than 150 new school districts in 2018.

"Safe, reliable transportation for school-aged children is a major expense and pain point for both schools and parents, and Zūm is committed to providing an innovative and dependable solution," said Ramneek Gupta, Managing Director & Co-Head of Venture Investing at Citi Ventures. " Zūm is re-inventing the $40 billion per year school transportation market and we're proud to support their expansion."

Zūm's entrance into Dallas marks the first step for the company's national expansion. With almost 2,400 schools and a student population of approximately 1.4 million, Dallas student transportation leaders are experiencing a resource crunch: the city will be shutting down school buses for nine districts due to lack of funds.

The average Dallas student spends 60 to 90 minutes on a one-way ride to school. The long commutes are exacerbated by bus and driver shortages, and are especially disruptive to the 110,000 students attending special education programs. Those students often require extended commutes for schools that meet their needs. Right now, many school buses are shuttling only one to two of these children at a time, leading to empty seats and wasted dollars. Zūm provides more efficient and cost-effective transportation, filling the current gaps in student transportation and providing new levels of service for students, families and school leaders. The company has already hired 100 new drivers (Zūmers) in the greater Dallas area, and continues to recruit driver-childcare providers like nurses, teachers, nannies and parents.

"Zūm's goal is to create a ripple effect of changing lives for the better. How a student starts their day impacts their ability to learn. When a child arrives at school with comfort and ease, and their commute is shorter, they can more easily focus in class, and ultimately can learn more. Our service especially helps working families navigate the daily challenges of juggling student and parent commutes," said Ritu Narayan, CEO and founder of Zūm. "We're proud to be bringing the service to Dallas school districts, and plan to expand even further over the next year and beyond."

About Zūm
Zūm is the leading provider of safe, efficient and reliable child transportation for school districts and busy families. Zūm saves schools money and parents time by providing flexible transportation options through its network of highly vetted drivers and advanced scheduling, routing and tracking technology. Founded in 2015 by Stanford and eBay alums, Zūm is backed by leading venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital and BMW i Ventures. The company is headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information, visit www.ridezum.com.

About Citi Ventures
Citi Ventures ignites change and reimagines solutions that drive economic progress for clients. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Tel Aviv, Citi Ventures accelerates discovery of new sources of value by exploring, incubating and investing in new ideas, in partnership with Citi colleagues, our clients and the innovation ecosystem. For more information visit: http://ventures.citi.com/.

SOURCE Zūm