The smart bus platform that designs, manages and optimizes group transport for employers and schools - software first, vehicles borrowed.
ZEELO. The company's app-icon mark. Founded in London in 2016 by Sam Ryan, Barney Williams and Daniel Ruiz Gimenez; a second headquarters opened in Boston in 2023.
Zeelo is a TransitTech company that treats the daily commute as a software problem. It designs, manages and optimizes group transport programs - corporate shuttles and school buses - and connects employees and students to work and education.
The unusual part is what Zeelo does not do: it does not buy buses. Instead of owning depots and vehicles, the company operates what it calls a virtual fleet - more than 10,000 coaches and buses supplied by vetted third-party operators - and wraps that capacity in its own technology. A rider app handles booking, ticketing and real-time tracking. A driver app manages safe operation and boarding. A client dashboard gives employers analytics, sustainability reporting and route control.
That asset-light structure lets Zeelo scale across three countries without the capital drag of a traditional bus company. It also shifts the pitch. A conventional operator sells seats; Zeelo sells visibility and optimization - the routing engine that decides where the bus should be, and the data that proves the program is worth paying for.
The company frames its work around three numbers it repeats often: programs that run roughly 43% cheaper than traditional shuttle operations, about 12 hours a week of admin time saved per program, and a reported 50% lift in ridership. When Zeelo can name the before and after, the sales conversation becomes an operations conversation.
The through-line, from the founders' first startup to today, is simple: move groups of people efficiently, and let the software do the heavy lifting.
"Zeelo's team has been phenomenal and very receptive, directly attributed to our operations' success."- UPS Transportation President
More than 1,000 organizations across the US, UK and Ireland - from the largest enterprises to SMEs, universities and schools.
AI-powered software that designs, manages and optimizes group transport, backed by a virtual fleet of 10,000+ vehicles.
Booking, flexible ticketing, real-time vehicle tracking and rider updates in one app.
Safe operation, flexible boarding options and automated vehicle alerts for drivers.
Management dashboard with trip analytics, sustainability reporting and multi-channel communication.
Dedicated tracking and updates for school and university transport programs.
Demand forecasting, route planning and fleet right-sizing that cut cost and raise ridership.
Most shuttle competitors sit at one of two extremes: traditional coach operators who own vehicles and run routes manually, or in-house corporate transport teams juggling spreadsheets. Zeelo sits between them. It brings the software and optimization of a tech company and the managed-service delivery of an operator, without carrying the vehicles on its own balance sheet.
The business model follows from that. Zeelo charges organizations to design, run and optimize their transport programs, subcontracting a virtual fleet of vetted operators. Revenue comes from managed shuttle programs plus the software and data layer on top. Value is framed around cost savings, higher ridership and sustainability reporting rather than seats sold.
The proof point Zeelo points to most is Fidelity International's Surrey campus, where data-led optimization cut transport costs by 29% - about £420,732 a year - by right-sizing the fleet to real demand. Alternatives include mobility players such as Via and Zeta, but Zeelo's wedge is the combination of an asset-light fleet and routing built to kill empty seats.
Sustainability is baked in rather than bolted on: the company says it has run carbon-neutral operations from day one and has partnered with Zenobe to push electric-bus adoption across the UK. In June 2025 its $23M Series B was led by climate investor Blue Earth Capital - a cap table that describes the category as clearly as any pitch deck.
Sam Ryan and Barney Williams sell their first ride-sharing startup, JumpIn, to Addison Lee.
Ryan, Williams and Daniel Ruiz Gimenez launch the company.
Early smart-bus contracts include match-day coaches for Manchester City FC and work in South Africa.
Zeelo walks away from events and B2C to move white-collar workers for corporate clients, and closes Series A.
During COVID-19 lockdowns the company focuses on getting frontline workers to work as public transit falters.
$14M Series A extension; a second HQ opens in Boston and the founders relocate.
$23M round led by climate investor Blue Earth Capital.
"Confidence is critical to keep going."- Sam Ryan, Co-Founder & CEO
Zeelo runs a smart bus platform that designs, manages and optimizes group transport programs - corporate shuttles and school buses - for organizations, combining its own software with a virtual fleet of vetted operators.
No. Zeelo is asset-light: it orchestrates a virtual fleet of more than 10,000 vehicles supplied by vetted third-party operators.
More than 1,000 organizations across the US, UK and Ireland, including UPS, DHL, Ocado, JLR, Fidelity International, GSK and Estée Lauder, plus schools and universities.
Zeelo was founded in 2016 in London by Sam Ryan (CEO), Barney Williams and Daniel Ruiz Gimenez.
Zeelo has raised across multiple rounds, including a 2023 $14M Series A extension and a $23M Series B in June 2025 led by Blue Earth Capital, for tens of millions in total funding.