Seatfrog, a London-based rail ticketing app, has secured £6 million in growth funding led by top investors, including Pembroke, Praetura, and Octopus Ventures (also backed Flock).
The company intends to use the funds to embark on a new recruitment drive and meet the demands of operators across Europe. The company aims to become a pre-eminent pan-European choice for rail.
Seatfrog will also use the investment to accelerate its expansion plan.
Rail ticketing platform
Led by Iain Griffin (CEO), Seatfrog is a rail ticketing platform for customers to buy tickets, upgrade to first-class and switch trains.
Available on Android and iOS, Seatfrog app has become the go-to platform for rail operators and more than one million customers who can now buy tickets, upgrade to first-class, and switch trains all in one app.
Seatfrog was launched in 2018 to tackle the problem of over 570 million empty first-class seats each year.
Seatfrog’s technology helps operators run more profitable networks, increasing new revenue by over 300%.
So far, Seatfrog has secured exclusive partnerships with sixteen major train operators covering over 3 billion journeys across the UK and Europe.
Seatfrog’s business model has already saved passengers more than £43 million and achieved over 800% revenue growth in 2022 alone.
Co-founder and CEO of Seatfrog, Iain Griffin commented: “Our mission is to be the platform of choice for rail, helping people fall in love with taking the train again, and enabling operators to run more profitable networks full of happier, less stressed passengers – it’s long overdue.
“Today’s investment marks the latest milestone on our journey but it’s by no means our final destination. With the launch of our Train Swap feature across the UK and our expansion into new European markets, we are unleashing a new platform that helps passengers get an unrivalled experience and operators run more efficient networks well beyond the capabilities of legacy technology.”
Fred Ursell, Investment Director, Pembroke Investment Managers LLP added: “Over half of UK rail passengers are unhappy with value for money, largely due to the European rail sector being starved of innovation. When we met Iain and Dirk, their vision and passion to transform the customer experience for travellers whilst providing a ‘win-win’ business model for Train Operators became immediately clear. The disruptive business model, product market fit and large market combined with a world-class team, meant Seatfrog had all the hallmarks of a Pembroke deal. We are delighted to be supporting Seatfrog as it expands its product range, deepens relationships with customers and grows its geographical presence.”
David Foreman, Managing Partner of Praetura Ventures said: “Many of our team used Seatfrog long before we spoke to them about this investment. As fans ourselves, we can see that the Seatfrog proposition is clearly loved by its users as shown by their thousands of industry-leading reviews. They’ve got a fantastic team with a great product and global potential. We’re incredibly excited to be backing Iain and Dirk in their next stage of growth with our ‘more than money’ support.”
