Fresh off the back of a £2.2m funding round led by the Coutts Investment Club, in tandem with Seedrs, we spoke to Irina Iovita (pictured below), CEO, Commuter Club, to find out how the funding will be used to support future growth, and why Commuter Club is proving such a hit in the UK. 

Can you quickly explain how Commuter Club works?

Commuter Club is a tech platform that brings together data, online retail and smart credit to help commuters find the right ticket for their commute, purchase it online and access the big savings of annual tickets through a low cost, convenient monthly payment plan – like a subscription service. 

Our most popular offering is our monthly payment plan helping commuters save over £400 on average each year. Commuters sign up online through a simple process and receive an annual ticket with unlimited travel on their route, paid for in convenient monthly Direct Debit payments. Even better, we welcome new customers with two weeks of free travel in their very first month with Commuter Club. 

Why are consumers looking for new ways to pay for their travel? 

The UK is one of the most expensive countries for commuting. Commuters spend £6bn a year just to get to and from work.  On average, the UK commuter spends over £2,000 per year on commuting, travelling two hours a day to find their trains are frequently delayed and facing price increases every year. 

We found that 85% of commuters pay more than they should because they’re buying the wrong ticket, foregoing over £500m in savings. Over the last five years, prices have increased by 13%, making commuting a top-household expense. Commuters value the opportunity to save and enjoy a great experience as a Commuter Club member. 

What are you going to use this investment for? 

The funds will be used to evolve the Commuter Club platform with key new products including a Commuter Club smartcard, a ticket-finder tool to help commuters find the right ticket for their commute (tapping into £500m of savings) and a service to automatically claim refunds when trains are delayed.

Irina Iovita, CEO, Commuter Club

We believe every UK commuter has the right to enjoy a great experience when purchasing their ticket, access fair and transparent fares and tap into the best savings available in the market.  This funding round will help us make this a reality. 

Your funding was led by Coutts Investment Club, in tandem with Seedrs. Why did you feel this dual approach was the best route for your funding round? 

The Coutts Investment Club has been a great fit for Commuter Club the Coutts team did a fantastic job at connecting us with an impressive set of investors whose expertise will be extremely valuable for our next phase of growth. We’re proud to have previously crowdfunded on Seedrs so we were thrilled to offer our existing Seedrs investors and new potential retail investors the opportunity to participate in this round alongside Coutts investors. 

As Commuter Club continues to grow, what are the company's goals for the future? 

We have issued over £70m in tickets to date and are proud to have helped commuters save over £10m. 

Our goal is to become the go-to hub for all commuters, offering innovative and diversified products to help commuters save time, money and hassle. 

We have an exciting product roadmap which includes launching a Commuter Club smartcard, a ticket finder tool to help commuters find the right ticket for them and a service to seamlessly claim refunds when trains are late.