A Los Angeles-based transportation booking startup, Swoop, aims to bring the local operators into the digital age with a SaaS platform, which will help to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The company has now raised $3.2 million in a new funding round led by South Park Commons, Signia Venture Partners, and several other investors Kevin Well, creator of Libra at Facebook; former Uber CPO, Manik Gupta; and Elizabeth Well, a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz and 137 Ventures.
Swoop’s CEO, Amir Ghorbani, said in a statement, “I am amazed at how operators still run their businesses with pen and paper.” Ghorbani has experienced the problems of these operators. During college and high school, Ghorbani helped with his parents’ limousine business.
Ghorbani added, “I saw a big opportunity to help the mom and pop stores in an industry where no operator has more than 1% market share.”
Ghorbani started by creating a group transportation platform used by companies, like Google, Nike, and Airbnb.
The SaaS platform of Swoop helps the companies to track vehicles and dispatch the rides. Moreover, it acts as the main hub for payments and other bookkeeping. The tools improve vehicle utilization, which is around 4.9%, according to the company.
Currently, the main focus of the company is only on local transportation companies, not public transportation, which Uber targets. Uber’s business has also been severely affected due to COVID-19.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has affected local transportation, Swoop states that it has adjusted its platform to give a new life to the vehicle operators. The company has repurposed its vehicles to sell goods instead of people. For example, companies can now use large vans for corporate outings and package delivery. The platform also connects operators like Amazon, which provide transportation to the essential factory workers.
According to Swoop, the pandemic will accelerate its business. This will help operators to evaluate their businesses and find new ways to generate revenue while reducing the overall costs.
