Exclusive: HBSS Connect acquires blockchain startup Colu

Massachusetts-based HBSS Connect has acquired Israeli blockchain startup Colu, Investing.com has learned.

The takeover creates new opportunities towards connecting the traditional transportation market with a rapidly expanding blockchain based payment system. HBSS Connect is the company behind transportation platform QRyde,

Colu has been an active player in the blockchain space since 2014. The company’s digital wallet app was launched in early 2017 and is now operational in cities such as Tel Aviv, Haifa, East London, and Liverpool, serving over 200,000 users and supporting transactions across 2,000 local businesses.

The blockchain startup has previously raised decent investments from firms like IDB Development Corporation and Aleph, and its blockchain technology has garnered attention worldwide.

The merger with HBSS Connect Corp will help accelerate the development and deployment of these technologies on a global scale.

For its part, the acquisition is set to support QRyde’s efforts in creating a blockchain-based transportation system with more efficient municipal government spending. HBSS Connect will leverage web3 technology to integrate transportation systems with local economies.

QRyde's platform, which serves over 250 customers in 35 states and more than 9,700 cities, focuses on connecting people to essential services.

HBSS CEO Himanshu Bhatnagar framed his firm's investment in Colu as the first step in what will be a long discovery process, though one that he expects to bear fruit soon.

He added, “We are pleased to have Colu joining our QRyde team. Colu is the perfect partner to help execute our vision of using blockchain in the mobility space, for entering into urban renewal and smart city space, making the transportation ecosystem trustworthy and more accessible to all citizens, not just the elderly and mobility challenged.”

Bhatnagar founded QRyde as a shared ride scheduling platform to offer ride booking, cost-sharing, and bidding management services to educational institutions, healthcare companies, and public transit agencies across the nation.

Operating under its parent company HBSS Connect, QRyde employs technology like mobile scheduling, automated dispatching, and AI-based route optimization to help these organizations deliver services more efficiently and cost-effectively.

“By combining Colu's vision of making cities thrive with QRyde's advanced transportation platform, we can now better serve underpaid communities, transporting them to job centers and commerce areas,” said Ortal Tevel, CEO of Colu.

Colu has extensive experience in implementing digital reward schemes to engage residents and strengthen local economies. The company has collaborated with municipalities across the United States, including Akron, Boston, Houston, and Saline County.

Through collaboration with QRyde, Colu will expand its program to include a variety of essential services.

This article first appeared in Investing.com