20-Aug-2013 22:15:11
by Josh

Masabi Appoints Dennis Marshall as VP of Business Development

Mobile Ticketing Pioneer Strengthens US Team Adding Transit Industry Veteran to Support Growth

New York, US. August 21, 2013 – Masabi, the leader in transit mobile ticketing and fare collection, today announced the appointment of Dennis Marshall as VP of Business Development. Dennis will be responsible for evolving new business opportunities for Masabi’s award-winning JustRide product with transit agencies and partners around the world.Dennis brings considerable global transit experience to Masabi having co-founded the KMA Group I, where he provided technical, financial and business advice to state and local government public transit agencies on fare collection and payment systems. During his tenure, he served as lead advisor to the Toronto Transit Commission, the 3rd largest public transit operator in North America, on that agencies planning for a new automated fare collection strategy and also served as an advisor to the South-Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the 4th largest public transit system in the United States, on that agency’s transition to its new $127 million open fare payment system.

Prior to KMA, Dennis worked for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) where he served as the CTA’s first General Manager of Business Development, where he was responsible for developing public-private partnerships and complex outsourcing agreements in support of the CTA’s $550 million in annual fare revenues. The CTA is the second largest public transit system in the US with over 14,000 employees and a $1.3 billion annual operating budget and Dennis led the development and transition of the CTA’s new $454 million open fare payment system.
Masabi’s JustRide product is a cloud-based, deployment-proven, rapidly deployable, end-to-end mobile ticketing and fare collection system. It comprises award-winning apps for ticket purchase, use and validation together with back-end infrastructure for secure payments, ticket management, customer service, reporting and real-time analytics. Masabi launched the US’ first system-wide deployment of mobile ticketing for Boston’s MBTA in late 2012 and today processes more than $50 million in ticket sales per year across its systems world-wide.

“We welcome Dennis to Masabi at a pivotal time as we are extending our reach in the US and other key global markets following the hugely successful rollout of our ticketing system with MBTA,” said Ben Whitaker, CEO of Masabi. “Dennis’ crucial finance, strategy and business development experience in the public transit sector working with some of the world’s largest transportation agencies and operators will make him an invaluable addition to the company.”

“Masabi has made some very impressive waves in the US public transit industry and has built a solid reputation as the go-to organization for end-to-end mobile ticketing,” said Dennis Marshall, VP of Business Development. “By developing Masabi’s relationships with agencies, technology and financial partners, I look forward to building on those foundations and promoting awareness of the benefits of Masabi’s JustRide technology as a turn-key fare collection and payment solution for transit agencies around the world.”

Dennis holds a Master of Public Policy in Finance and Public Finance from The University of Chicago, as well as a Bachelor of Arts, with highest honors, in Economics and International Studies from DePaul University.

About Masabi

Masabi is the transit mobile ticketing pioneer, delivering end-to-end systems to agencies that bring significant cost savings and enhanced customer experience. Masabi’s JustRide system signals the end of ticket lines, lost tickets and cash fares by allowing passengers to quickly and securely buy and display tickets on their mobile phones. Masabi enables transit agencies to move away from capital intensive “locked-in” systems, such as smartcards and costly ticket machines, to a flexible, open system that transforms passengers’ travel experience today, with a roadmap to NFC and open payments in the future.

Masabi is backed by Fontinalis Partners, m8 Capital and MMC Ventures. The company’s scalable cloud-based technology already processes more than 50 million dollars per year, handles millions of connections per day, and is in use by 15 global transit agencies and retail brands, including: Virgin Trains, First Group, MBTA, CrossCountry Trains and thetrainline.com. More information about Masabi is available at www.masabi.com.

Media Contacts

Temono for Masabi
Stephanie Ross
Tel: +44 (0) 207 089 8894
Email: stephanie.ross@temono.com

Written by Josh