Preliminary trading in shares of the American platform for organizing passenger transportation Via Transportation has started in the trading system for Freedom customers. Initially, the company planned to compete with Uber and Lyft, but eventually focused on working with government and corporate customers. The company's securities under the ticker VIA will appear on the New York Stock Exchange later Friday.

Details

Via Transportation and its shareholders raised nearly $493 million on the NYSE by offering 10.7 million shares at $46 a paper - above the top hfytt of its previously announced range. That brought the company's market value to $3.65 billion, Reuters noted. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Allen & Company and Wells Fargo acted as lead underwriters for the IPO.

In preparation for the IPO, Via Transportation set a target offering range of $40-44 per share. Listing at the upper end of this range corresponded to a capitalization of $3.5 billion - such a valuation the company received at the investment round in 2023, notes Reuters. Wellington Management expressed interest in buying up to $100 million worth of shares at the IPO price.

What's interesting about the company

Via was founded in 2012. The company started as a ride-sharing app competing with Uber and Lyft. But by the late 2010s, it changed course, focusing on helping municipalities, government agencies and transportation departments manage intelligent transportation systems. In fact, Via evolved from a consumer ride-ordering service to a SaaS company in the B2G (business to government) sector, a niche with stable but slower cash flows. Contracts with government customers provide Via with more than 90% of its revenue, with the rest coming from corporations and universities, the startup said in its IPO prospectus.

Today, the startup works with nearly 700 customers in more than 30 countries, providing custom buses, shuttles, and specialized transportation. Via's platform allows customers to plan routes, dispatch, book seats and get analytics, and offers additional services including fleet procurement and call center support.

In 2023, Via acquired Citymapper, a mobile navigation app with a paid version. In the first half of 2025, the company cut its net loss by 25% year-over-year to $37.5 million on revenue growth of 27% to $206 million. About 70% of its revenue comes from North American customers. Via believes it has reached about 1% of its estimated $545 billion target market.

In its IPO prospectus, Via highlighted the risks associated with the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as two of its subsidiaries and more than a quarter of its employees are based in Israel. Because of its reliance on contracts with government clients, the company also pointed to possible risks associated with changes in the structure of government spending on transportation amid U.S. President Donald Trump's administration's drive to streamline the budget.

What analysts are saying about the stock

Freedom Broker analyst Alem Bektemirov gave Via Transportation's shares a Buy rating (corresponding to a buy recommendation). According to Bektemirov's forecast, the growing demand for modernization of public transportation infrastructure and active implementation of digital solutions will allow the company to increase revenue from $338 million in 2024 to $2.7 billion by 2034. The analyst's target price of $56.5 per share implies a 22.8% increase from the IPO price.

Compared to the larger players in the passenger transportation segment, Via Transportation's IPO valuation looks modest: it is almost half the market value of Lyft and is only 2% of Uber's capitalization, according to a review on The USA Leaders website. "Experts believe that Via's multiples may be more in line with peers in the gov-tech (technologies for government agencies - Oninvest) and SaaS sectors than with B2C transportation giants," the publication says.

Optimists are attracted by Via's long-term contracts with municipalities, which provide stable cash flow, revenue growth with rapidly shrinking losses, and entry into the $545 billion global transportation market, which is in dire need of digitalization. Skeptics point out that the company is still unprofitable, has lost scale to B2C competitors, and its business model is entirely dependent on government procurement cycles and subject to political risks, The USA Leaders wrote.

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Freedom clients will be able to get access to Via Transportation shares before the opening of the main exchange session. Trading will begin in the early pre-market format 2-3 hours before the US exchanges open (from 15:30-16:30 Astana time). To participate, click on ticker VIA.US

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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