EBRD is making a USD4 million equity investment in oBilet, an online service focusing on intercity bus travel in Turkey.
The investment is part of a USD5 million financing round alongside Earlybird Venture Capital, an investor focused on European technology innovators. Over the past year, oBilet has raised a total of USD10 million in financing.
The oBilet app, available on mobile and desktop devices, offers bus travel options, convenient digital booking of bus rides and seat reservation, and allows users to manage their journeys online. It also provides software for bus operators to manage their bus inventory and helps them sell tickets through the platform.
The company is owned by its two founders Ali Yilmaz and Yigit Gurocak, Earlybird Venture Capital, and Aslanoba Capital, a leading angel investor in Turkey.
The EBRD equity financing will support oBilet’s growth, while also encouraging the development of highly innovative technology-based companies in Turkey. oBilet is currently expanding into air travel ticketing.
The investment is part of the Bank’s Venture Capital Investment Programme that aims to promote greater access to venture capital, which is still nascent in many countries where the EBRD invests.
The Bank is a major investor in Turkey. Since 2009 it has invested EUR11.5 billion in various sectors of the Turkish economy, with almost all investment made in the private sector.
