# Ben Whitaker

> Ben Whitaker is a British engineer and entrepreneur, co-founder, former CEO and director of Masabi, and co-founder and CTO of Kerbo Charge. He helped define UK rail mobile-ticketing standards, developed Masabi’s award-winning EncryptME security product and hosts Transit Voices. His work connects public-transport payments with practical access to electric-vehicle charging.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Director at Masabi; Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer at Kerbo Charge
- **Organizations:** Masabi, Kerbo Charge, University of Cambridge, UCL Transport Institute
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** MEng, Engineering and Management (MET / Manufacturing Engineering), University of Cambridge, Robinson College
- **Known for:** Helped define the UK rail mobile-ticketing standard., Designed EncryptME, winner of the 2007 IET Innovation in Engineering security award., Transport Ticketing Industry Contributor of the Year, 2016.

## Career timeline

- **1997-2001** — Studied engineering at Cambridge; an initial student business subsequently closed.
- **2001** — Masabi began in late 2001 as a mobile-games venture; later accounts sometimes use 2002.
- **2007** — Masabi launched mobile ticketing with Chiltern Railways; Whitaker received an IET award for EncryptME.
- **2012** — Boston MBTA launched Justride on 12 November.
- **2014** — Masabi selected for MTA commuter-rail mobile ticketing. Brian Zanghi succeeded Whitaker as CEO on 1 December; Whitaker became head of innovation.
- **2016** — Named Transport Ticketing Industry Contributor of the Year.
- **2018** — UCL Transport Institute reported his Royal Society-funded Entrepreneur in Residence appointment.
- **2022** — Co-founded Kerbo Charge with Michael Goulden; appointed Masabi chief evangelist in November. Transit Voices launched in October.
- **2024** — Appeared on Dragons’ Den with Goulden; Deborah Meaden offered £50,000 investment.
- **2026** — Kerbo Charge joined Vauxhall’s Electric Streets of Britain campaign in April.

## Achievements

- Helped define the UK rail mobile-ticketing standard.
- Designed EncryptME, winner of the 2007 IET Innovation in Engineering security award.
- Transport Ticketing Industry Contributor of the Year, 2016.
- Co-founded Masabi, whose annual ticket sales exceeded $1 billion as reported in Robinson College’s 2023 alumni publication.
- Co-founded Kerbo Charge, backed by Deborah Meaden following its 2024 Dragons’ Den appearance.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Quoted in reporting about variation in council-area installation costs for cross-pavement charging channels.
- **2026-04** — Vauxhall announced Kerbo Charge as a partner in Electric Streets of Britain.

## Links

- Website: https://www.masabi.com/bens-corner/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjdw/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/benmasabi

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/ben-whitaker
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-24