Canadian Startup Busbud Raises $1 Million from iNovia Capital and Real Ventures

Montreal-based intercity bus travel startup Busbud today raised $1 million.

The round was co-led by iNovia Capital and Real Ventures and included participation from Peter Kern, Managing Partner of US private equity firm InterMedia Partners, and Joe Poulin, CEO of travel startup Luxury Retreats. As part of the deal, iNovia’s David Nault and Real Ventures’ JS Cournoyer are joining as board members.

“As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned that the team you build is the company you build, and the same goes for the partners you associate with,” says Louis-Philippe Maurice, co-founder and CEO of Busbud. “Our team has been working very hard to create a great product that solves a real problem for travelers, and we couldn’t dream of a better mix of experience and expertise to take Busbud to the next level.”

Busbud looks to be the go-to web and app for bus travelers worldwide. It gives travelers easy access to intercity bus travel information and ticket purchases on the go, gathering intercity bus schedules for 4,379 cities in 66 countries.

“Busbud is the first service to offer travelers comprehensive access to worldwide bus schedules and ticketing. In a context where the bus industry is largely fragmented, this provides for huge opportunity,” says Chris Arsenault, Managing Partner at iNovia.

According to a recent report from DePaul University cited by the American Bus Association, intercity bus travel grew by 7.5% in 2012, making it “America’s fastest growing form of intercity travel by a comfortable margin.”

“Real Ventures is proud to join the Busbud team on their quest to transform the intercity bus industry. LP, Michael and Fred are the archetypal visionary entrepreneurs we like to back,” says Cournoyer.

Busbud was founded in 2011 by three friends: Harvard MBA Louis-Philippe Maurice, Microsoft Bing veteran Michael Gradek, and Frederic Thouin.