As a member of Phenikaa Group – PhenikaaMaaS JSC will make greater efforts to rebuild its organisational structure and expand its vision and business strategic direction, striving to become one of the leading developers and providers of smart city products, solutions and services. — Photo courtesy of Phenikaa Group

Phenikaa Group has announced a US$1.5 investment in a local tech start-up which owns Viet Nam’s top free public transportation application BusMap.

After the deal, the company was renamed PhenikaaMaaS JSC.

The strategic investment demonstrates the group’s commitment to nurturing Vietnamese talents and creating momentum to enhance the strength of the Phenikaa Ecosystem.

The deal is expected to hasten the sustainable development and construction of smart cities in Viet Nam and contribute to facilitating the Government to implement its policies and achieve set targets through intensive digital transformation, according to Phenikaa Group.

As a member of Phenikaa Group, PhenikaaMaaS JSC will make greater efforts to rebuild its organisational structure and expand its vision and strategic direction, striving to become one of the leading developers and providers of smart city products, solutions and services.

“Phenikaa Group has always sought opportunities to work with and foster young talents with their initiatives and projects, which are highly disruptive, applicable and influential for the community. The success of the BusMap app shows that Vietnamese young entrepreneurs have enthusiasm and competence to hold the secret to core technologies and bring them into reality for a smarter, better life,” the spokesperson of Phenikaa Group said.

Chance to fly high

Back in 2013, a group of young, talented technicians, led by CEO Le Yen Thanh, founded the technological start-up BusMap with strong aspirations of technological achievements.

In the early days, the founders wanted to create a free public transportation app, which was known as BusMap, for urban bus passengers. The app was designed to help people increase the efficiency of bus travel, to optimise their travel routes, and to save money and time in comparison to other means of transportation, thus encouraging the use of public transport and reducing traffic congestion and environmental pollution.

In 2020, BusMap app beat other popular names to win the first prize for “Smart Cities, Smart Living” at the International Telecommunication Union’s ITU Award 2020 – a worldwide recognition for outstanding technological initiatives in contribution to a better world. To date, the application has reached more than two million users, assisting the completion of more than 50 million trips and become Viet Nam’s top free public transportation app.

Thanh told the media that in seeking investment for his start-up, he was lucky to find a parent as Phenikaa Group, that would help his company save years of development. Then he decided to receive the investment from the group instead of other investment funds.

To date, BusMap has reached more than two million users, assisting the completion of more than 50 million trips and become Viet Nam’s top free public transportation app. — Photo courtesy of Phenikaa Group

“Phenikaa Group is striving to become a hi-tech industrial group, thus the company has been applying science products to create added value for its production besides making sufficient investment in researching and developing smart technological products based on Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to secure core technologies, develop an open, highly-applicable, smart ecosystem for the people."

"That will open up an opportunity for BusMap to join transport and mapping areas, thus helping the group better its IT solutions,” Thanh said.

Thanh described one of Phenikaa Group’s development strategies which has invested in personnel, technology and education as a sustainable investment, it supports his company’s goal that aims to endure its long-term and sustainable development journey.

According to Phenikaa Group, PhenikaaMaaS JSC will also receive full support from the parent for further development and application of core technology in BusMap for other smart mobility apps and comprehensive technological solutions, which are accessible for thousands of Vietnamese transport enterprises and local authorities to develop smart transportation and smart cities through extensive digital transformation.

In the future, top priority would be given to better introducing PhenikaaMaaS JSC’s products to more customers while perfecting its core technologies such as mapping, AI and IoT, and developing personnel resources, Thanh added.

A number of technological products and solutions made by Phenikaa Group have recently been brought to life, marking a watershed in the group’s pursuit of becoming one of the top-tier technological and industrial corporations in the region.

Remarkably, a majority of core technologies are reportedly developed by Vietnamese engineers and scientists of Phenikaa Group, especially the young, talented and passionate ones whose businesses have become parts of the Phenikaa Ecosystem. That headhunting policy showcases the group’s identifiable strategy to earn the most glorious achievements in the technology and science sector in line with the cultivation of young Vietnamese intellectual and capable talents.

Following the latest deal, Phenikaa Group has taken a new step in the journey to endorse the growth of young Vietnamese entrepreneurs and the development of technological advancements in attempts to strengthen the group’s competitiveness and eco-friendliness in aspirations of innovation and contribution to national digital transformation. — VNS