Trublo

What Trublo does

Trublo provides a software-as-a-service platform for bus, coach, and shuttle operators to manage bookings, payments, routes, fleet operations, and driver operations from a single integrated system. The company is operated by Esite Online Services CC, a close corporation registered in South Africa in 2006, with the Trublo platform itself having gone live on real operator volume in 2023. The primary customer base consists of scheduled transport operators running intercity, regional, university, school, and staff shuttle services, with the company's commercial focus centered on Africa while infrastructure supports operators in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

The platform is built on AWS infrastructure with multi-region deployment across nine regions (including af-south-1 for POPIA-compliant African data residency) and is composed of modular components: an online booking engine, an AI website builder, a connected journeys engine that enables operators to combine up to three of their own routes with up to two transfers and sell them as a single ticket, fleet and multi-branch management, a depot POS cash-up system, a web-based driver app with float management for tolls, meals, sleepover allowances and fuel top-ups, and financial reporting. Payment processing is integrated through DPO Network, PayFast, Paystack, and Stripe, and the platform maintains PCI DSS, POPIA, GDPR, SOC 2 Type 2, and ISO 27001 compliance.

Trublo monetizes primarily through a flat monthly subscription priced by booking volume tier (R3,950 to R55,000+ per month in South African Rand, quoted in USD outside Africa), with no commission on fares, cash, counter, or agency sales. A separate 5% passenger-side booking fee applies only when operators use a Trublo-managed payment gateway (Paystack). Go-to-market is a direct, guided-demo enterprise sales motion in which Trublo personally configures each operator's routes, schedules, fares, vehicles, depots, and payment gateway. The company is founder-controlled by CEO Anton Swanevelder and bootstrapped, with no external institutional investment disclosed in the available source material.

Name

Trublo

Legal name

Esite Online Services CC

Website

https://trublo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Trublo is a SaaS platform that lets bus, coach, and shuttle operators manage bookings, payments, routes, fleet, and driver operations from one system, primarily serving scheduled transport operators across Africa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transport Booking & Operations Software

NAICS

Interurban and Rural Bus Transportation (485210), Charter Bus Industry (4855), Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation (48599)

SIC

Local & Suburban Transit & Interurban Hwy Passenger Trans (4100), Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Ground Transport Booking Platforms (Rail/Bus/Shuttle) (THALAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Rail & Intercity Bus Booking Engines (THALADAD), Ground Transportation Booking Platforms (Rail/Bus/Ferry) (BPAMAIAD), White-Label Booking Engine Platforms (SaaS/Widget) (THALADAN)

Keywords

• Bus booking platform
• Transport operator software
• Coach booking system
• Shuttle operations software
• Fleet management software

Headquarters

HQ city

Dover

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Platform Subscription (Flat Monthly Fee): Operators pay a flat monthly subscription fee based on booking volume tiers. No commission on fares, cash, counter, or agency sales. Revenue scales with customer tier rather than transaction value.
2. Booking Fee (Trublo-Managed Gateway Only): 5% booking fee added to passenger ticket (paid by passenger, not operator) only when operators use Trublo-managed payment gateway. No fee when operators use own DPO Network or PayFast account.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Trublo is a cloud-based SaaS booking and operations platform for bus, coach, and shuttle operators. It unifies online bookings, passenger payments, route and schedule management, fleet and driver assignment, depot POS cash-ups, multi-branch financials, and an AI-powered website builder in one system, sold on a flat monthly subscription with no commission on fares. The platform targets scheduled intercity, regional, university, school, and staff transport, and is differentiated by a connected journeys engine that lets operators sell multi-route trips across their own network as a single ticket.

Product overview

Trublo is a single unified booking and operations platform for bus, coach, and shuttle operators. The core platform encompasses the Online Booking Engine (passenger-facing portal), Route & Schedule Management, Fleet Management, Driver App, POS Cash-Ups, Financial Reporting, and Connected Journeys Engine. All plans include the AI Website Builder for automated site creation. Pricing follows a flat monthly subscription model (R3,950 to R45,000/month) based on booking volume with no commission on fares. The platform integrates with payment gateways DPO Network, PayFast, Paystack, and Stripe for payment processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trublo Platform Complete cloud-based booking and operations SaaS platform for bus, coach, and shuttle operators, unifying online bookings, payments, driver operations, depot cash-ups, fleet and route management, multi-branch operations, connected journeys, financial reporting, and an AI website builder in one system. Sold on a flat monthly subscription with no commission on fares, and used by scheduled intercity, regional, university, school, and staff transport operators primarily in Africa and globally.
• Trublo Enterprise Plan Enterprise subscription tier of the Trublo Platform for transport operators running over 7,000 bookings per month, starting at R55,000/month, with dedicated onboarding, priority support, and direct access to the Trublo team. Includes all platform features (unlimited routes, passenger portal, analytics, multi-branch setup, refunds, custom branding, AI website builder) tailored for high-volume, multi-branch regional operators.

Quantifiable outcome

• Revenue can double without software bill moving
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and standard.

• DPO NetworkcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary payment gateway partner across Africa. Operators bring own DPO Network merchant account and passenger payments settle directly into their bank. No booking fee on DPO Network accounts. Supports credit/debit cards, instant EFT, mobile money, scan to pay across South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, UAE.
• PayFastcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary payment gateway partner for South African operators. Operators connect own PayFast merchant account. No booking fee on PayFast accounts. Supports credit/debit cards, instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Apple Pay, Google Pay.
• PaystackstandardTechnology or IntegrationAlternative payment gateway for operators without merchant account. No setup required. Supports card, bank transfer, USSD, Apple Pay, Google Pay across Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. 5% booking fee added to ticket (paid by passenger).
• StripestandardTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway for operators in Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Operators quoted in USD. Africa is primary focus but global enquiries accepted.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure provider. Africa operators hosted in AWS Cape Town (af-south-1) for POPIA compliance. Additional regions: us-east-1, us-west-1, ca-central-1, sa-east-1, eu-west-1, ap-south-1, ap-southeast-1, ap-southeast-4 for global operators.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Omio: Multi-modal travel aggregator (rail, bus, flight, ferry) operating across Europe and beyond. Comparable to Trublo in that it sells intercity bus seats, but at much broader scope and via an aggregator model rather than operator-operations software.
• FlixBus: Largest intercity bus operator-platform in Europe and increasingly the Americas. Operates both as a carrier and a software/brand layer for partner operators, making it a broader incumbent that overlaps with Trublo's operator-software value proposition at the upper end of the market.

Direct peers

• BusBud: Bus and coach booking marketplace operating across North America, Europe, and Latin America. Trublo competes directly with BusBud's commission-based model by offering operators a flat-fee alternative for managing their own bookings, payments, and operations.
• Bookaway: Online ground transportation booking platform focused on tourist and intercity transfers in emerging markets, similar geographic and operator profile to Trublo. Both enable bus, ferry, and shuttle operators to distribute inventory via a booking platform.
• RedBus: One of the largest online bus ticketing platforms globally (owned by MakeMyTrip). Serves the same operator-supplier customer base as Trublo with a marketplace/commission model that Trublo explicitly positions against in its pricing messaging.
• Wanderu: US-focused bus and ground travel booking marketplace. Directly comparable business model to Trublo's marketplace-side competitors, serving bus operators and passengers in intercity travel.

Emerging players

• 12Go: Asia-focused ground and ferry transport booking platform covering buses, trains, ferries, and transfers across Southeast Asia. Comparable emerging player serving the same operator-supplier base as Trublo in a different geography.

Regional players

• Computicket: Long-established South African ticketing platform for bus, events, and entertainment. Operates in Trublo's primary geography with overlapping bus operator customers, making it a direct regional incumbent to displace or coexist with.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trublo

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Trublo