(Frankfurt, 1st October 2026) ioki has established an U.S. entity and is building a local team • Market entry marks the first concrete step of the company's international growth strategy • First ioki customer in the U.S.: On-demand service for Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

ioki, a European provider of software for the digitalization of public transit, is expanding into the United States. The Frankfurt-based company has won Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. as its first customer in the US. Starting in October, the university will use the ioki platform for its new on-demand shuttle service.

ioki has set out to advance individual public transit in the car-centric US market, combining mobility simulation with digital public transport solutions. As in Europe, ioki primarily addresses public transport authorities that want to automate their services and expand them on a financially sustainable basis. To this end, the company has established its own US subsidiary and is building a local team to offer its public transit products in the US market over the long term.

Growth Potential in the U.S. Market

Dr. Michael Barillère-Scholz, co-founder and CEO of ioki, says: “The idea for ioki was born during a visit to the U.S.; we founded and grew the company in Germany, and today ioki operates across Europe. Now we’re back, starting our first U.S. project with Georgetown University. This step into a new market shows that our platform works outside Europe too and adapts to different local mobility conditions. We see a clear opportunity to help cities and transit operators in the U.S. make individualized public transit more digital and, above all, more efficient.”

Tobias Liebelt, CEO of BENTELER Mobility: “When BENTELER acquired ioki earlier this year, we named international growth potential as a key perspective. With this U.S. market entry, we’re delivering on that. ioki is a central building block of our strategy to support cities and operators in the economic integration of autonomous mobility.”

Public Transit in Europe and the U.S. Facing Similar Challenges

In the US, transit authorities and operators face the same questions as in Europe: How can a service remain economically viable when funding programs expire and cost pressure rises? This is where ioki’s expertise in data-based transport planning and mobility simulation comes in, alongside its software platform for on-demand and fixed-route services. In more than 230 planning projects, ioki has analyzed and simulated billions of mobility patterns and trip distances, deriving efficiency potential in existing public transit networks. This expertise is as relevant in the US market as it is in Europe.

The Georgetown University project is expected to be followed shortly by further services running on the ioki Platform and by mobility concepts based on ioki Analytics.

The U.S. public transit industry will get its first opportunity to learn about ioki and its products at APTA 2026 TRANSform & EXPO. The flagship conference of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) takes place October 5-7 in Chicago. ioki will be exhibit together with HOLON and BENTELER Mobility.