By HOJUN CHOI
Reporter with Silicon Hills News
moovel North America’s Austin office, formerly RideScout
Under the rebranding, Joseph Kopser, co-founder of RideScout, will be taking on the position of president of moovel Group GmbH, a subsidiary of German automobile titan Daimler AG – most famously known for their ownership and operation of Mercedez-Benz.
“In his new role as global president of moovel Group GmbH, Joseph is responsible for shaping and communicating the organization’s vision, mission and overall strategy on a global level,” company spokesperson Patti Kelly wrote in an email.
The announcement of the merger is the newest development in the business partnership involving the two startups and moovel Group GmbH, which acquired RideScout in September 2014.
RideScout uses a mobile app to better assist people searching for available transportation options.
RideScout announced in June 2015 that it had acquired GlobeSherpa, a company that provides a mobile platform for booking tickets for public transit.
One of the co-founders of the mobile ticket startup, Nat Parker, will now serve as the CEO of moovel North America, which will be headquartered in Portland.
“Transportation is no longer just a question of options, but of convenience and ease of use,” Parker said in the press release. “Our exceptional teams in Portland and Austin are in pursuit of the most seamless experience for both transportation providers and consumers to define the future of mobility.”
Kelly told Silicon Hills News that moovel, which also has offices in Austin, will continue to operate and that Kopser would continue being an active voice in the city’s startup ecosystem.
“Moovel is in pursuit of the best advancements that push the status quo with interoperable products built for transit agencies, app developers and end consumers,” Kopser wrote in an email. “At the end of the day, consumers not only want options, they want options that are efficient and easy to use – this is what we are striving to provide.”
Kopser and Parker announced the 2015 acquisition over a press conference live-streamed over YouTube, during which both co-founders expressed excitement over the chance to expand through the partnership- a sentiment Kelly said still holds true despite the new structure.
“We are happy to report both offices are growing and moovel North America will continue to hire in both locations,” Kelly wrote.
Kelly said that moovel is now looking to move forward with RideScout’s pilot project, “RideTap,” a software development kit that will allow other mobile services to easily integrate RideScout’s technology into their own platforms.
Though the application of “RideTap” has the potential to reach beyond just services that deal specifically with transportation, she said that it will help the newly formed entity, moovel, combine existing technologies of the two previously separate startups to best serve its customers.
“We are looking forward to launching the RideTap pilot in Portland later this Spring with TriMet, Lyft and Car2Go,” Kelly wrote. “Users of the TriMet Tickets app will be able to request a Lyft or reserve a Car2Go directly from the TriMet Tickets app, thanks to the RideTap software development kit.”
Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story referred to the merged company as mooveltransit. That is moovel’s ticketing platform. The name of the rebranded company is moovel North America.
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