What we do
Institutional investors
Equity products
AI Co-Investment Facility
Cleantech Co-Investment Facility
Impact investing at the EIF
Climate & Infrastructure Funds
Technology Transfer
European Angels Fund (EAF) - Co-investments with Business Angels
Venture capital
The Social Impact Accelerator (SIA)
Lower mid-market
Mezzanine Facility for Growth
VentureEU
EFSI Equity instrument
Single EU Equity Financial Instrument
COSME - Equity Facility for Growth
InnovFin Equity
Private equity secondary market transactions
EIF-NPI Equity Platform
ESCALAR Programme
Debt products
New ESIF ERDF Guarantee Fund initiative in Greece
EFSI Private Credit Programme
AGRI Guarantee Facility
AGRI Italy Platform Uncapped Guarantee Instrument
Credit enhancement
Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee Facility (CCS GF)
ENSI - Securitisation Initiative
Erasmus+ Master Loan Guarantee Facility
Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot
EREM debt products
Single EU Debt Financial Instrument
Documentary Finance Facility – Bulgaria
The SME Initiative
The SME Initiative Bulgaria
The SME Initiative Finland
The SME Initiative Italy
The SME Initiative Malta
The SME Initiative Romania
The SME Initiative Spain
Inclusive finance
EaSI Financial Instruments
EaSI Capacity Building Investments Window
EaSI Guarantee Instrument
EaSI Funded Instrument
European Progress Microfinance Facility
Entrepreneurs supported through Progress Microfinance
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
How does EIF contribute to EFSI
How to apply for EFSI financing
Regional Development - Country and sector-specific initiatives
Normandie Garantie Agri
FAIRE - La Réunion
Auvergne Rhône-Alpes FEADER
Recovery Equity Fund of Funds of Bulgaria
Fons d’Inversió en Tecnologia Avançada (FITA) Catalonia
Dutch Future Fund (DFF)
Dutch Alternative Credit Instrument (DACI)
PORTUGAL BLUE: a new initiative for blue economy investments
JEREMIE Greece Reflows – Business Angels’ Co-Investment Equity Instrument
German Corona Matching Facility (CMF)
Portugal Growth programme
Central and Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT)
Croatian Growth Investment Programme (CROGIP) II
Croatian Growth Investment Programme (CROGIP)
Croatian Venture Capital Initiative 2 (CVCi 2)
AGRI Italy Platform Uncapped Guarantee Instrument
DISPOSITIF INSTRUMENTS FINANCIERS BOURGOGNE FRANCHE-COMTÉ
ALTER’NA – ESIF EARFD Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Baltic Innovation Fund 1 (BIF 1)
Baltic Innovation Fund 2 (BIF 2)
Central Europe Fund of Funds (CEFoF)
Croatian Venture Capital Initiative (CVCi FoF)
Competitiveness Fund-of-Funds for SMEs in Romania
The Cyprus Entrepreneurship Fund (CYPEF)
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Initiative East Guarantee Facility (DCFTA)
EU4Business Capped Guarantee
Dutch Growth Co-Investment Programme
Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI-II)
ESIF Fund-of-Funds Greece
EAFRD FoF Portugal
EAFRD FoF Romania
The ERP-EIF Facility
ERP-EIF Co-Investment Growth Facility
The LfA-EIF Facilities
The German Future Fund (GFF) - EIF Growth Facility
INAF – French National Agricultural Initiative
ESIF Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Malta
Regional Fund-of-Funds Romania
ESIF Fund-of-Funds Czech Republic
The Silesia EIF Fund of Funds
La Financière Région Réunion
The EIB Group Risk Enhancement Mandate (EREM)
EstFund
Call for Expression of Interest for FOSTER II
Greater Anatolia Guarantee Facility (GAGF)
G43 - Anatolian Venture Capital Fund Project
InvestBG Equity Instrument
JEREMIE
Romania Recovery Equity Fund of Funds
JEREMIE Romania Reflows – Equity Instrument
Luxembourg Future Fund 1 (LFF)
Luxembourg Future Fund 2
Mezzanine 'Fund of Fund' for Germany (MDD)
NEOTEC resources
Polish Growth Fund of Funds (PGFF)
Portugal Venture Capital Initiative (PVCi)
Scottish-European Growth Co-Investment Programme
Slovene Equity Growth Investment Programme (SEGIP)
Swedish Venture Initiative (SVI)
Turkish Growth and Innovation Fund (TGIF)
Western Balkans Enterprise Development & Innovation Facility (WB EDIF)
EAFRD FoF Greece
Irish Innovation Seed Fund (IISF)
RRF Czech Republic Fund of Funds

CitySwift: data-driven bus scheduling

image

“We’re seeing a lot of changes in urban transport. Car ownership is declining in large cities for example, bus sizes are varying, subscription-based transport services are becoming more and more popular, and of course there’s driverless vehicles as well. If we make better use of data, there’s a great opportunity here for everyone,” explains Brian O’Rourke, co-founder of CitySwift.

Set up by Brian and his schoolmate Alan Farrelly, CitySwift is out to optimise the efficiency and service quality of urban bus networks by using big data and predictive analytics: “We integrate our software into the bus company’s system and extract very useful data which we then analyse in order to offer solutions. For example, we helped one client adapt local bus routes to better match demand and supply. That means adjusting to allow for peaks like sporting or music events, or for dips like when a college is closed,” explains Brian. “Alan’s family has been in the bus transport business since the 80s and I’m a software developer myself. We kind of brought the two together and set up the business.”

With clients like the city of Dublin, Reading and Greater Manchester or companies like National Express and Stagecoach, CitySwift are on a mission to match data with reality and optimise the supply of vehicles. “It’s a win-win for everyone. Better services for customers, optimised operations for the bus company and more efficient use of the transport network which is good for the environment and local authorities alike,” Brian adds.

In late 2018, ACT Venture Partners, an Irish venture capital firm backed by the EIF, recognised the opportunity and made an important investment in CitySwift, which helped the company make the jump to the next level: “For us, the challenge was first to get the necessary seed funding to develop the product. Then it’s a question of bringing in the right people to scale and reach out beyond the UK and Ireland. We’re already in talks in Paris, Berlin and Vienna. ACT came in at the right time and brought not only financing, but very useful experience. They’ve really helped us grow,” explains Brian.

But the process of attracting venture capital investors was also useful at another level: “The market for seed funding is very competitive. So the process of pitching to investors was a great health-check for us. We were pushed to deliver and forced to ask ourselves difficult questions. It’s what you’d probably call ‘good pain’ at the end of the day.”

Company: CitySwift (Ireland)

Type of business: transport, ICT

EIF financing: InnovFin Equity

Financial intermediary: ACT Venture Capital

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Ireland, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/ie

 

We use cookies to give the best browser experience on our website. or change cookie settings.

Note: Following the recent withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, we are updating the relevant EIF.org pages.

 
 

Copyright ©

 European Investment Fund   – The European Investment Fund is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.