Big Bucks from BMW i Ventures, FirstMark Capital and IA Ventures
Archana Patchirajan, Puneet Mehta and Sonpreet Bhatia, the three entrepreneurs behind MyCityWay really seem to be on a roll – they’ve just managed to raise $ 5 million in financing from BMW i Ventures, FirstMark Capital and IA Ventures. Yes, you may be seeing the innovative MyCityWay app in BMW cars in New York in the future!
Mobile services are very much on auto-makers minds and the BMW Group has founded BMW i Ventures — a New York-based venture capital to provide early- and mid-stage investments in the area of Mobility Services, and MyCityWay is the beneficiary.
Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing said, “As a mobile app, My City Way provides users with information on public transportation, parking availability, and local entertainment for over 40 cities in the US. Another 40 cities will be part of the global rollout, including Munich, of course.”
The MyCityWay creators have certainly come a long way when as Wall Street workers they decided to chuck their 9 to 5 jobs and seek their fortunes in creating an app that would make life smoother for all New Yorkers. That app went on to become Winner of the “NYC Big Apps Competition” for Popular Choice and Investor’s Choice in 2010.
Since then this app mobile application has become a popular consumer driven city guide which is available in 40 cities around the world. According to the company, this latest round of funding will allow MyCityWay to continue its global expansion into international urban markets and extend its city data information and business advertising to major metropolitan areas throughout Asia, Europe and Australia.
MyCityWay for Life in the City
For consumers, the good news is that MyCityWay is a free app available on iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android and BlackBerry mobile devices. With this app, its easy to become aware of current traffic patterns and best routes, as well as obtain on the go information about parking spots in the area and of course, where to wine and dine.
Since MyCityWay is on your phone, there’s no reason to carry printed guides or newspaper scraps along. The app also integrates user profiles and all information needed from shopping to social networking to city details. MyCityWay has launched city applications for more than 40 cities throughout the world including: New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., London and Paris. MyCityWay is available for download at NYCWay or MyCityWay–USA.
As Lawrence D. Lenihan, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital noted, “Extending MyCityWay’s social tools, destination-based information and user-profile driven capabilities to the car environment is a perfect match and the ultimate city guide at your fingertips.”
As for the three entrepreneurs who’ve made every city their city, what are the future plans? Says Archana Patchirajan, “The initial plans are to launch in every major city in the world to empower residents to know their city well and for tourists to enjoy the city that they are visiting or plan to visit.” MyCityWay has been launched in 40 cities and the plan is to launch in Germany as well as India within the coming months.
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