BuuPass, has acquired QuickBus with plans to expand its operations into South Africa and Nigeria. Since its inception in 2017, BuuPass has operated as a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) travel marketplace, allowing users to search, assess, and book tickets through mobile apps, web platforms or USSD. BuuPass boasts of more than US$100 million in total sales value and over six million tickets sold.
The Kenyan mobility startup has also been a beneficiary of programmes like Google for Startups Accelerator Africa and has received funding from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.
However, QuickBus, which was launched in 2019, focuses on aggregating long-distance bus tickets, offering customers price assessments and options for scheduling trips, while assisting bus companies in increasing profits.
With the startup’s recent acquisition, BuuPass has created strategies aimed to extend its presence into South Africa and Nigeria, with plans to include over 5,000 extra routes into its network. In addition, BuuPass will also incorporate more than 100 bus companies and major online distribution partnerships, including MTN, Vodacom, and FNB.
Sonia Kabra, BuuPass co-founder, expressed enthusiasm for the expansion in Africa with hopes of finding more opportunities to take their business to fresh African markets. “BuuPass aims to create a comprehensive network of interconnected transport options for seamless global and continental travel. This acquisition is a significant milestone toward that goal,” she said.
