BuuPass Scales from Ticket Sales to Transport Software

In short

• BuuPass says it sold over 30 million travel tickets in 2025.
• It processed more than $100 million in transactions that year.
• The company now operates across five African countries and sells software to transport operators.

What happened

BuuPass started as a Kenyan travel booking startup. It first focused on selling bus tickets and making trip planning easier for passengers.

Over time, the company shifted from being only a consumer ticketing platform to building transport infrastructure. Here, “infrastructure” means the behind-the-scenes software and distribution rails that help operators sell seats, reconcile payments, and manage routes.

The startup’s original idea in 2015 was very different. Its founders, Sonia Kabra, Wyclife Omondi, Iman Cooper, and Leslie Ossete, first pitched solar-powered buses with Wi-Fi that could act like an internet café when parked. After feedback that the model would not scale well even with a large prize, the team pivoted.

They reworked the concept into Magic Bus, a phone-based booking service for matatus, which are privately run minibuses used for mass transit in Kenya. The idea used existing vehicles rather than adding new buses. Magic Bus went on to win the Hult Prize in 2016, bringing in $1 million, and BuuPass was incorporated the same year.

In the past decade, BuuPass has also had to survive major setbacks. The company navigated COVID-19 disruptions, multiple product pivots, and an internal crisis involving a cofounder accused of misappropriating more than $100,000.

Today, BuuPass sells software to transport operators, distributes tickets through banks and telcos, and runs a corporate travel platform. The company says it now operates in five African countries.

Why it matters

BuuPass’s shift shows where value is building in African mobility and travel booking. Ticket sales can be seasonal and low margin, but operator software can create recurring revenue through SaaS, which is software sold by subscription.

If BuuPass can keep growing distribution through banks and telecoms, it could become a key middleware layer for intercity and regional transport. That can improve reliability in a sector where schedules, seat inventory, and payments are often fragmented.