Gill Business Systems (Gillbus) / Busfor (in Ukraine), a company that develops inventory distribution systems (IDS) for the bus-transportation industry, has just secured $1 million from Ukrainian fund Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG).
Launched in Ukraine in 2010, Gillbus aims to make distribution of tickets for buses “as smooth as tickets for airlines.” According to CIG, the company has seen the volume of the transactions on its platform increase by 335% over the past year.
The company, which has offices in Moscow, Kyiv (Kiev) and Bangkok, is developing activities in new markets across the globe. The capital injection will be used to increase sales in the countries where Gillbus has significant inventory, indicated a CIG representative.
In June last year, Gillbus secured $3 million from three venture funds, including Intel Capital, InVenture Partners and FinSight. The valuation was not disclosed, but sources cited by AIN say that the investor consortium received a stake of “up to 25%.”
CIG was founded in 2012. Its available capital, which exceeds $750 million, is the personal funds of former Kyiv mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi. In 2008, the controversial businessman sold his bank, Pravex, which stood as one of the country’s leading banks, to the Italian financial group Intesa Sanpaolo.
CIG, which focuses on “IT and Internet projects that are scalable internationally,” already invested in several Ukrainian startups, including e-commerce site Zakaz.ua in September 2014. Last month, the fund injected $1 million in Kidoz, an Israeli startup which has developed a solution to protect children from bad content.
