Stick with me here. Long story short, this is a good Portland story. So there’s that. But it may get a little twisty and turny. Let’s see… where shall we begin…?
Once upon a time there was a Portland startup called GlobeSherpa. GlobeSherpa got acquired by a division of Daimler. Eventually that division merged a bunch of different acquisitions and business units to form moovel North America, which consolidated its efforts in Portland. And now moovel is being renamed REACH NOW (I’M NOT YELLING. YOU’RE YELLING.) because it’s being merged with the former BMW ReachNow service.
Still with me? Cool.
Also once upon a time there was a company called Validated. Validated joined the Jaguar Land Rover Incubator, which used to be located here in Portland until it was recently shut down. After completing that program, Validated continued to work on ways that they could provide perks for consumers using alternative forms of transportation. The same way you could get parking validated for shopping at certain stores. Hence the name.
Well today, the JLR incubated Validated is being acquired by the division of Daimler, moovel.
“Validated’s innovative solutions align with REACH NOW’s strategy of building products and partnerships that strengthen public transit systems and expand mobility options for people in cities,” said REACH NOW North America CEO Nat Parker. “We are working toward a future where transit agencies, mobility providers, retailers, and employers are all participating in a transportation platform that empowers people to choose for themselves how they want to get around the city to shop, dine, and get to work. While Validated will continue to operate as a separate brand and company, the partnership sets the stage for REACH NOW to extend mobility benefits to universities, employers and merchants and integrate loyalty programs into its mobile ticketing solutions for public transit agencies.”
For more information, read the moovel press release.
