Hanoi-based Phenikaa Group announced a strategic investment of US$1.5 million in BusMap, a Vietnamese free public transportation application. 

BusMap application

With the fresh investment, BusMap has officially become a subsidiary of Phenikaa and changed its name to Phenikaa MaaS JSC. 

“Phenikaa Group has always sought the opportunities to work with and foster young talents with their initiatives and projects, which are highly disruptive, applicable and influential for the community,” a spokesperson of Phenikaa Group told The Hanoi Times. 

Phenikaa MaaS will take BusMap as the core technology and a fundamental to create “personalized” applications meeting each user’s need of customization and resolve a variety of issues with personal life and business operation. 

The investee will continue to restructure the business operation and create products and services that are highly applicable and accessible to potential customers. It will expand to other public transportation segments such as railway and waterway, hence accelerating the development of smart transportation through extensive digital transformation.

In 2013, the technological startup BusMap was founded by a group of young, talented technicians, led by CEO Le Yen Thanh who created a charge-free public transportation app. 

The app is developed upon the core digital map technology in association with artificial intelligence (AI) and consultancy algorithm allowing the user to get access to the urban bus map.

It was designed to increase the efficiency of bus travel, helping people to optimize their traveling routes as well as save money and time. 

After seven years of operation, it reached more than two million users and more than 50 million trips.