Austin, TX (PRWEB) June 24, 2014
The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), part of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin (UT), today congratulates RideScout on its company momentum. RideScout, the technology platform revolutionizing how people find and use ground transportation, is a current portfolio company of ATI’s Clean Energy Incubator.
Founded by Military veteran Joseph Kopser, RideScout is in the middle of its “Summer of 69,” having expanded to a total of 69 North American markets on June 9. The company also recently received an award from the US Department of Transportation, this in addition to Kopser being recognized recently by the White House as a Champion of Change.
ATI’s Clean Energy Incubator was founded in 2001 and is one of the longest established energy and cleantech incubators in the US. Portfolio companies part of ATI’s CEI have focused on clean technology innovations that run the gamut from wind and solar power alternatives to water advances to oil and gas industry improvements.
“Beyond energy, power and electricity, traffic and transport solutions are becoming absolutely critical,” said Mitch Jacobson, Co-Director, ATI Clean Energy Incubator. “RideScout, with its ability to give real-time guidance on transportation options, as well as its executive leadership and vision - from Joseph and the rest of the team - on all issues around transport, is an ATI stand out.”
RideScout was born at the ATI incubator in Austin and now serves as a member of the Washington DC incubator 1776. In November 2013, RideScout launched iOS and Android apps in DC, its first city. Optimization for Austin quickly followed in February 2014 with public transit like Capital Metro and last mile transportation solutions like B-cycle bike sharing. RideScout activates markets that offer consumers the necessary variety of transportation options from car sharing and bike sharing to taxis, buses, trains and parking.
After launching in its two headquarter cities, RideScout quickly turned on Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, the five major US markets fully supported by RideScout between November 2013 and May 2014. However, the real speed to launch begins now, with RideScout’s “Summer of 69” initiative which turned on 64 additional cities in the US and Canada just in time for summer travel. Now a total of 337 ride options are available within RideScout, reaching a potential of 186 million people with its free iOS and Android apps.
“It is great seeing our vision expand so quickly, and to be able to give a wide variety of transportation options to so many people,” said Joseph Kopser, Co-Founder and CEO of RideScout. “Our ride search engine has allowed us to scale quickly across North America, integrating both nationwide and hyperlocal solutions, while also validating our model with recognitions from both the White House and the US Department of Transportation.”
In November, Kopser, who served 20 years in the U.S. Army who spent his last three years of in active military service as commander of the University of Texas at Austin’s Army ROTC program, was recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change for his work as a veteran in the clean energy space. Just weeks ago, the US Department of Transportation recognized RideScout as a data innovator working to make transportation better with the use of publicly available data.
The company has raised $2.8 million in funding from Huron River Ventures, ATX Seed Ventures and 1776 Seed Ventures, among others. It has recently added Aneesh Chopra, former CTO of the White House, and Gabe Klein, former commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation to its advisory board. And Celite Milbrandt, recently on board as RideScout’s VP of Product Development, can apply his smarts from founding Slacker Radio, which organizes the world’s music, making it searchable and social. Milbrand is now charged with organizing the world’s transportation.
The company continues to grow, adding new features to the app and talent to its teams in Austin and DC.
About RideScout:
RideScout is a technology platform that aggregates public, private and social rideshare on its free iOS and Android apps, allowing people to search and compare ground transportation options on demand and in real time. Hailed as the Kayak™ of ground transportation, RideScout shows users transit, taxi, ride share, car share, bike share, carpool, walking, biking, driving and parking in one view. The company is based in Austin, TX, with a Washington, DC, office at startup campus 1776. Please visit http://www.ridescoutapp.com for more information and app screenshots in their 69 markets.
About the Austin Technology Incubator:
The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) is the startup incubator of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin. ATI works with seed and pre-seed-stage companies, helping prepare these businesses for commercial success, with a particular focus on helping startups compete in the capital markets. The Incubator has operated since 1989 with a dual mission: create jobs and wealth in Central Texas through technology entrepreneurship, and provide distinctive teaching and research opportunities to the UT-Austin community. Over the past 10 years, ATI companies have created more than 5,500 jobs, nearly $1 billion in economic impact, and over $20 million in tax revenues in Central Texas.
