Zūm Raises $19 Million in Series B Funding, Grew 340% in 2017
Zūm, a provider of reliable transportation and care for children, today announced the company has secured $19 million in Series B funding. The investment was led by Spark Capital with participation from existing investor Sequoia Capital. The round brings Zūm’s total venture funding to $26.8 million.
Zūm provides families with safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation from screened and certified professionals. The company’s services save American families over 100,000 hours of time spent driving children to school and other activities. Zūm has grown 340% in the past year and is on track to complete one million rides in 2018.
Through partnerships with Zūm, over 1,000 public, private, and charter schools in California have saved a total of $10 million in overhead and now have access to reliable, flexible and affordable transportation for students. The company’s offering allows schools to scale up and scale down their transportation needs based on number of riders and routes.
“Prior to Zūm, families were spending countless hours driving their children around, while schools were sinking crucial management hours and budget in maintaining ineffective transportation options,” said Ritu Narayan, founder and CEO of Zūm. “We’ve been able to save parents’ time and help families decouple their schedule dependencies. We’ve also opened an array of previously unavailable options for schools that improve efficiency while providing must-needed transparency and cost savings. We’re thrilled to be working with Spark Capital and Sequoia Capital to bring Zūm to more school districts and metropolitan areas.”
With this new round of funding, Zūm plans to expand its school offering and grow its footprint in select major metro areas in the U.S. in the next two years. The company will also look to hire the brightest minds in engineering, operations, marketing, and sales who are eager to help redesign transportation options for children. Alongside this round, Nabeel Hyatt, general partner at Spark Capital, will be joining Zūm’s board.
Nabeel Hyatt, added: “As a parent and Zūm user, I’ve seen many new opportunities open up for my children, including a wider variety of school and activity options. Every dollar Zūm saves for a school is a dollar that can be spent to educate a child, and every hour we save overwhelmed parents is an hour spent helping to bond and build a family.”
“Zūm has built a safe, reliable product and a differentiated go-to-market strategy. Every family knows how hard it is to organize daily logistics for hectic schedules, and Zūm is becoming the leading trusted transportation and childcare solution for families and schools,” said Bryan Schreier, partner at Sequoia Capital.