Busbud: a new and innovative success story
July 17, 2014
HEC Montréal student entrepreneurship is once again making the headlines, with the arrival of Busbud, a Montréal firm co-founded by Louis-Philippe Maurice (BBA 2003). The service lets users search for, compare and book intercity bus tickets worldwide. The company has just closed a $9 million funding round co-led by Revolution Ventures of Washington, DC and OMERS Ventures of Toronto, with the participation of Montreal funds iNovia Capital and Real Ventures, and is definitely in the fast lane!
In less than three years, Busbud has made it easy for users to search for and book intercity bus tickets from bus companies in over 10,463 cities in 89 countries, in 10 languages and 21 currencies. It’s the most comprehensive resource for bus travellers worldwide. Users can consult schedules and book from its website or its iPhone app. From 3 employees in 2012, Busbud has grown to 32 today. The company continues to expand, although Maurice and his co-founders Mike Gradek and Frédéric Thouin are determined to keep it in Montreal.
Maurice definitely has an entrepreneurial streak. At age 16, he founded his first website development company with a high school friend. After completing his BBA at HEC Montréal and a Master’s in Law at the Université de Montréal, he earned an MBA from Harvard University. He worked for LinkedIn and Yahoo for two years, in California’s Silicon Valley, before returning to Montreal in 2010.
At just 32 years old, in addition to his position as CEO of Busbud, the HEC Montréal grad is active in eight mentorship programs and is a member of Anges Québec. He also launched Entrepreneurs anonymes, an informal network of businesspeople who meet to discuss their common problems. He created Start-up Open House Montréal, bringing together 1,300 participants and 50 start-ups, in October 2013. Maurice also designed a mobile app called GeoDonation, allowing users to locate some 1,000 donation boxes and centres for used clothing and other items, throughout much of Quebec. In 2013, Réseau HEC Montréal presented him with a Relève d’Excellence award, in the Entrepreneur category, in recognition of his success with Busbud.