Masabi, a mobile ticketing and fare collection provider for the transportation industry, Monday announced a $12 million funding round with investment from leading international public transport operator Keolis, Lepe Partners, MasterCard, and existing investor MMC Ventures. This latest round, including corporate partners for the first time, marks a step change in Masabi's growth and speed to market, according to a press release.

Masabi's JustRide platform is a cloud-based, end-to-end mobile ticketing and fare collection system in use in cities worldwide. It comprises apps for ticket purchase, display and inspection, together with backend infrastructure for secure payments, ticket management, ticket inspection, customer service, reporting and real-time analytics, according to the announcement. Masabi works with more than 22 transport operators and agencies around the world, including Virgin Trains, Abellio, Thames Clippers, New Orleans RTA, Boston's MBTA, Las Vegas, Transport for Athens, and New York's MTA.

Monday's announcement builds on strategic partnerships with MasterCard and Keolis, according to the announcement. MasterCard and Masabi are working together to help drive cash and its associated costs out of public transport with the integration of the one-touch MasterPass digital wallet platform into JustRide. Keolis is working to include Masabi's mobile ticketing in its integrated digital offering.

"Our mission is to transform everyday transport for millions of people in cities worldwide. The combination of Masabi, MasterCard and Keolis represents three companies working at the forefront of their respective fields to develop and deploy products, making this a reality," said Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi. "We are delighted to welcome their investment together with that from Lepe Partners and MMC Ventures to support our operations around the world where mobile ticketing is enhancing the quality of life of urban residents and visitors and bringing about smarter, better connected cities."