TailBus, a crowdsourcing transportation company launched in June 2015, was acquired by Rally, a community mobility platform that offers pop-up mass transit to and from sporting events, concerts, and festivals, for an undisclosed amount. The company was founded by Drew Moffitt, a serial entrepreneur, whose previous company ForeverNOT experienced tremendous growth in early 2014. During an interview with Silicon NYC, Drew explained his inspiration and reason behind the sale.
What was the inspiration for TailBus? “TailBus was inspired by another platform business, and I’m referring to the business model, not the tech, ” says Drew. That company was AirBnB, an online marketplace that enables people to list, find, and rent extra bedrooms to full blown mansions. Drew continues, “An entrepreneurial-minded friend of my mine had decided to rent a mansion in DC and host a catered all you can drink New Years Eve party. Only problem was none of us New Yorkers had cars. We were all scrambling to figure out how to make it to DC. And in that instance I thought, what if we could crowdsource a party bus with like-minded people who were going to DC.”
TailBus was born out of that idea – that there needed to be a better solution for connecting people to events, concerts and weekend day trips. “Our goal is to simplify the process of participating in unique, yet affordable experiences while removing the headache of logistics. At the end of the day, no one in my generation likes to plan,” says Drew, a 27 year old millennial.
In June 2015, Drew launched TailBus. “At that point it was manually hacked together. Our first site was basically hard-coded, because the content management system failed to work correctly” . But the truth was it didn’t matter. Customers loved TailBus. “Our first trip was sold out two days before the event and people were calling and emailing, begging to squeeze onboard, ” notes Drew.
Drew ran TailBus for the next 6 months, seeing 100% month-over-month compounding revenue growth. By November, TailBus was generating sales of over $40,000 a month. At the turn of the year, Drew met Numaan Akram, Founder of Rally, the industry leader in crowd-powered mobility
Over the first and second quarter 2016, Drew and Numaan worked out an acquisition of TailBus by Rally for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition, although completed last month, was only made public this week.
As Drew proudly notes,
“The acquisition was the right decision for both myself and the company as well as our amazing customers!”
ABOUT RALLY
Rally is a crowd-powered travel for the sharing economy. Our technology connects you with other riders going to the same event or destination, then delivers high-end buses to get you there and back. Choose from preset trips or set up your own, then share your trip, invite friends, and relax…your ride is covered.
This isn’t a new idea. From camel caravans to stagecoaches to high-speed rail, people have been going better by going together. Together is easier, more comfortable, and more fun. It’s better for the community, the economy, and the planet. It just makes sense.
Rally is headquartered in New York City and has booked 500,000 rides in over 1,400 cities to events and destinations across North America.
