Mobility tech is fast becoming the backbone of public and shared transport, with digital tools like journey planning, ticketing, EV platforms and fleet telematics now essential infrastructure.
However, commercially, the sector remains underdeveloped. Most vendors are subscale, many operate in both B2G (Business-to-Government) and B2B settings, and few have achieved meaningful international scale.
At the same time, the sector is being pulled forward by regulation, funding and long-term climate policy. Net zero targets, modal shift programmes, and investment in urban connectivity are accelerating demand for more intelligent, flexible transport systems. This makes mobility tech both high-growth and high-friction: an environment where investors are well placed to drive consolidation, scale and commercial maturity.
A fragmented market with deeply embedded tools
The vendor landscape is structurally fragmented. Journey planning tools, EV charging platforms and digital ticketing providers have emerged in silos, often growing through regional contracts. Many are embedded into long-standing public infrastructure, making them difficult to displace but often limiting their ability to evolve without external investment.
Integration with legacy systems remains a significant barrier. Many solutions must interface with decades-old back-end architecture, increasing onboarding complexity and deterring procurement teams from switching providers. Yet once embedded, vendors can enjoy long customer lifespans and meaningful upsell opportunities. In practice, few have achieved the scale, capital or commercial strategy needed to take full advantage.
What’s driving demand?
Several forces are converging to increase appetite for scalable, integrated platforms. Climate imperatives are pushing cities and employers to decarbonise transport not only through fleet electrification, but by shifting journeys from private cars to shared and public modes. Corporate reporting requirements add further momentum: with Scope 3 emissions now in focus, employers are increasingly accountable for how their staff travel to and from work.
At the same time, expectations are rising across the customer base. Passengers look for seamless ticketing and real-time updates; operators need tools to plan shifts more efficiently, respond to congestion or incidents, and communicate effectively. Authorities expect data that informs service planning and oversight. Intense competition also makes information critical: operators with robust data can bid more accurately for routes and commercialise them profitably. Alongside these pressures, digitalisation mandates and public funding are supporting infrastructure upgrades across Europe, the UK and the US.
This momentum is reflected in the deal landscape. In recent months, Zeelo secured investment from Blue Earth Capital to accelerate the growth of its smart shuttle platform, while Velociti Group received backing from CBPE to scale its intelligent transport solutions. Around the same time, new projections suggested that the global shared mobility market will surpass $900 billion by year-end, with demand-responsive services and integrated platforms driving the fastest growth. As investors step in, the pace of change is anticipated to accelerate.
Where can investors create value?
Platform building is a clear route to create value for customers, operators, local authorities and investors. Bringing together complementary tools, such as journey planning, workforce management, and fleet management, creates stronger customer relationships and more defensible positions. Upselling analytics, optimisation modules and additional service layers increases revenue per client, while modular architectures allow vendors to move from bespoke deployments to repeatable, margin-rich product models.
International expansion also presents a growth opportunity. Many vendors still have limited presence beyond their home markets, despite having proven technology and strong reference points. Scaling into other regions can add significant value, particularly where regulatory standards and operator requirements are beginning to converge.
Mobility data itself is another underutilised asset. Real-time trip data, usage patterns and performance metrics are often collected but infrequently commercialised effectively. With the right data infrastructure and commercial strategy, this information could be packaged for use by cities, operators, advertisers or transport authorities.
Finally, integration across the transport ecosystem, in areas such as buses, rail, micromobility, parking and EV charging, offers the potential to build a broader and more defensible Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) business model. M&A is an important lever here, enabling vendors to bring together complementary capabilities and extend into adjacent modes. The same applies to international expansion, where inorganic growth can accelerate entry into new regions and strengthen market position.
Challenges to navigate
Despite the positive tailwinds, growth in TransitTech is rarely linear. Procurement cycles in the public sector are long, opaque and heavily reference-led. Case studies and trust can sometimes matter more than price or technical merit when decisions are made. Vendors must therefore build relationships and brand credibility in order to scale.
Integration costs are another persistent area of friction. Connecting to legacy infrastructure, whether digital or physical, often requires custom onboarding and development, slowing time-to-value. This can eat into early-stage margins and make implementation-heavy vendors less attractive unless a clear path to platformisation exists.
Lastly, customer types can vary significantly, from small, regionally focused operators with limited budgets to large local authorities. This creates a long tail of potential buyers, many of whom are highly price-sensitive and cautious about switching providers. As a result, vendors may feel pressure to underprice or operate at thin margins, particularly when competing with legacy B2C or underfunded B2G incumbents. However, reference wins and installed bases still heavily influence commercial trajectory; once a vendor gains traction with a key operator or authority, the flywheel effect can be powerful.
A moment of inflection
TransitTech is reaching a point where commercial execution matters as much as technological promise. The underlying demand is clear, and the sector is attracting increased investor interest. But success depends on identifying vendors that combine embedded client relationships with a credible plan for growth, whether through platform building, internationalisation, or better monetisation of existing capabilities.
The market is characterised by a web of long-standing contracts, operational complexity and policy-driven priorities. But for investors with the appetite to navigate it, there is a clear opportunity to back the next generation of Mobility-as-a-Service providers and to help them scale with purpose through focused value creation strategies.
CIL continues to monitor trends and activity in the TransitTech space. If you would like to discuss key developments or strategic opportunities, please get in touch.
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