“We were unsure whether private equity was the right route for our ongoing expansion. However, there was a real meeting of minds with MML who persuaded us of the merits of a genuinely growth minded partner. We have not looked back.” Nathan Bowles, Co-Founder and CEO, Veezu Return to portfolio Veezu veezu.co.uk Growth capital and M&A support to deliver a buy-and-build strategy. The business Leading mobility platform connecting over 8,000 driver subscribers to more than 25 million consumer, corporate and public sector rides each year across the UK. The deal The Veezu team had created a high-quality platform catering for a broad range of passengers and driver subscribers via its hyper local and tech enabled approach. They required further capital to support a very significant buy-and-build opportunity and invest in technology to continue to improve user experience, automation and leverage data through AI. MML provided a growth capital investment in return for a minority stake in 2021. To date, Veezu has made a further three acquisitions, is working alongside MML’s DataSparQ along with specialist digital marketeers and has progressed a number of other key strategic initiatives. Fund Partnership Region Europe Deal Status Current Sector TMT Catch up with Co-Founder and CEO, Nathan Bowles, three months post investment. How did you become interested in the mobility sector? My business partner asked me to invest alongside him in a regional taxi operator in 2012. My initial reaction was “no thanks” but I ended up commissioning some market research. The findings were really exciting given the size, fragmentation and technology potential. They did also mention a disruptive start-up in California called Uber but not too much was made of that at the time! The obvious question then - what about Uber? Uber has been operating in our core regions for over six years now and we have grown across the board alongside them. Part of our business plays outside of their core market, providing much more bespoke services for corporate and public sector accounts, operating in lower density regions and for a different passenger profile. However, a material part does compete head on, and we have done this very successfully with strong tech and user experience combined with our significant scale. The reality is we have benefitted from them growing and developing the market on a national scale. What have you enjoyed most about your experience with Veezu? We’ve built a great team with a very interesting blend of skillsets, combining industry veterans who have been managing leading taxi operators for decades with technology, M&A and professional capabilities. This has enabled us to build a highly scalable platform with national reach that has expanded quickly across the UK whilst maintaining a local community and service orientated focus. This is critical to ensuring leading driver and passenger experience. What are you most excited about? Now we are emerging from Covid, going full tilt on our growth and strategic initiatives. Alongside the firepower we now have for the buy-and-build, we have such significant organic growth opportunities - leveraging our data, investing more in our account side and continuing to develop our user experience. How has the journey with MML been so far (no pun intended!)? It’s already been busy. We’ve done a few more acquisitions, are onto the next phase of the technology roadmap and the data project is up and running in amongst lots of other initiatives. However, the level of support and regular interaction with the MML team has been great and actually exceeded my expectations. Associated deal team Ian Wallis co-CEO Robert Devonshire Partner Jessica Hardy Investment Director Harrison Smith Investment Manager London Paris New York Dublin Home Approach People Funds Portfolio News & Insights Contacts Investor Login Twitter LinkedIn Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Cookies Policy Site Credits Back to top