Berlin-headquartered Distribusion, which connects thousands of bus, rail, ferry, and public transport providers worldwide to a network of travel retailers, has scooped €80 million in funding. The Series C round was led by TQ Ventures, which recently backed Tilt, and saw participation from existing investor Lightrock, which invested in Sunfire and AiDash. This investment follows the €30 million Series B round secured in 2022.
The will use the funds to accelerate global expansion and to invest in technology for advanced retailing capabilities for its 2,000+ carriers and retailers and the millions of travellers they serve.
What issue does it address?
The ground transportation market has remained highly fragmented and often subject to bespoke, legacy tech in supplier scheduling and booking systems. Consequently, the planning and booking scheduled journeys online have often remained a hardly possible or confusing and time-consuming experience for travellers. Most ground transportation tickets are still purchased offline daily, which testifies to the ongoing digitalisation gap in the industry.
Distribusion tackles this issue via its B2B ground transportation marketplace which offers a vast array of operators with instant access to an unparalleled network of online travel agents (OTAs), meta search websites, and other mobility platforms.
B2B marketplace for ground transportation
Founded by Johannes Thunert and Julian Hauck in 2012, Distribusion builds a digital infrastructure for ground transportation retailing worldwide. Ground transportation spans all scheduled mass transport from bus, rail, and ferry, to public transport. The company operates globally with a presence in 70 markets, with the majority now outside Europe.
It holds established partnerships with the dominant names in travel such as Google, Booking.com, and Alipay, to name a few.
It has the largest rail portfolio, covering all major European rail carriers from Deutsche Bahn and SNCF to Trenitalia, major global players like Amtrak and Brightline in the US, and in Asia with the likes of Indonesian and Vietnam Rail.
Schuster Tanger, Co-Managing Partner at TQ Ventures, said: “We have followed and greatly admired Distribusion for over two years now. Thomas and the team have built a product-first company spearheading technology innovation in ground transportation with durable competitive advantages. Distribusion is highly regarded by its partners for the value it creates. We are thrilled to provide the business with the capital to build the category champion and revolutionise ground transportation.”
Chris Steinau, Partner at Lightrock, added: “Since leading the Series B in 2022, Distribusion has executed phenomenally well, expanding to the Americas and Asia, growing tenfold and achieving cash profitability. Distribusion creates a positive environmental and social impact by promoting and making access to ground transportation easy, aligning with our mission to support purpose-driven companies tackling climate change.”
Dr. Thomas Doering, CEO at Distribusion, commented: ”With only 10% of the world’s population having access to private vehicles, we already see infrastructure stretched and environmental exhaustion, getting mass transport right for the future is imperative. We need to change the way we deliver mass transport. Distribusion has proven it can play a crucial role in driving accessibility worldwide.”
