Via, a Transportation-Tech Startup, Confidentially Files for IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Via Transportation Inc., a tech company focused on helping people get around cities, confidentially filed documents on Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

The New York-based startup, which was recently valued at $3.3 billion after a fundraising round, tapped Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for its initial public offering, Bloomberg previously reported. The company had at one point considered merging with a blank check company, but instead chose the route of a traditional public listing. 

The filing comes shortly after the company shut down its shared van service in the New York and Washington areas, choosing to focus on building out apps and software for public transportation systems, as it faced a driver shortage and tough competition from rivals like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. Using real-time rider and traffic data, Via’s algorithms adjust routes and schedules to dispatch vans, buses and shuttles more efficiently by pooling people traveling in the same direction into one vehicle.

Via, founded in 2012, initially set out to build software for public transit systems that would allow them to provide on-demand service as an alternative to fixed-route buses. When the pandemic flattened the ride-hailing business, it also put extreme strain on public transportation networks, highlighting the need for more efficient options. Demand for the software services that Via had initially envisioned as its core business increased as municipalities allocated more of their budgets to integrate technology into public transit. 

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