Transfinder Reports 23% Boost in 2023 Revenue

Transfinder Corp.’s streak of year-over-year revenue growth was extended to 26 following a record $35.4 million in revenue in 2023, a 23% increase from $28.9 million in 2022, the company reported.

Transfinder, which provides school transportation management and logistics solutions to more than 2,300 school districts throughout North America also added 164 school districts to its roster of clients, with 41% leaving competitors for Transfinder and 55% not using any software.

The increase in revenue came from a number of sources, including clients continuing to migrate from Transfinder’s earlier routing solution, Routefinder Pro, to its browser-based Routefinder PLUS. Contributing to revenue growth was the release of the company’s Servicefinder fleet maintenance solution, which was under development for several years. Transfinder also saw an increase in GPS hardware sales, up 114% from 2022.

In addition to revenue growth, last year also marked a return to conferences on a large scale, with Transfinder employees attending 39 conferences across the county, a company record. And Transfinder experts recorded 114 days on district sites, up 25% from 2022.

“We made a lot of noise in the industry in 2023,” said Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella. “We launched two new products, Patrolfinder for police and Servicefinder for bus garages. We also made significant upgrades to all of our solutions and hit the road to meet our clients and future clients where they are at.”

Civitella explained why all the activity increased the company’s exposure.

“The stakes are too high for schools to be using inferior products,” he said. “We have a sense of urgency like never before because we know our solution not only save districts time and money but ultimately save lives too. That’s what keeps us up at night.”

Civitella said today one out of every three students receiving school transportation in North America are taking a bus that is routed using Transfinder technology.

“To be honest, I won’t rest until that ratio is closer to 1:1,” Civitella said.

Civitella spoke to that urgency during a daylong kickoff at Transfinder’s headquarters in Schenectady, N.Y., on Jan. 15.

“Deep down, all of you care about the success of our clients,” he said. “We will always have challenges, but we have the courage to tackle those challenges.”

And overcome them they did. Transfinder’s parent app Stopfinder saw the number of subscribers increase 66% to 314,066 in 2023. Stopfinder allows parents to track their child’s bus in real-time as well as have two-way communication with district officials. In 2023, parents received 4.7 million announcements, up 71% from the previous year.

Another solution gaining momentum is Wayfinder, the award-winning driver app. The number of trips navigated using Wayfinder jumped 165% to 1.9 million in 2023, while the number of student scans for attendance increased 172% to 6.2 million during the same period.

Beyond Transfinder’s award-winning software and hardware is the company’s service and support teams that engage with clients in a number of areas. Clients implementing new software gave Transfinder an average 4.7 stars for their experience in 2023. Meanwhile, 8,677 training sessions were held, up 6% from 2022; and 745 clients attended Transfinder University Livestream, up 8%.

Transfinder also added or improved ways for clients to reach its experts in support to reduce wait times, such as live chat, which increased 42% year-over-year. Customers on average gave Transfinder 4.7 stars for their chat experience.

Customer service is a critical focal point at Transfinder as its clients are traversing 75.9 million miles each year with students. That’s an increase of 198% from last year.

“We have to get it right for our clients because they have to get it right for the students and their parents,” Civitella said.

Transfinder continues to add to its headcount. Currently, the tech company has 182 employees globally, with 118 in the United States, the bulk of which are in New York’s Capital Region. That’s up from 174 globally and 111 in the United States in 2022.

Civitella anticipates crossing the 200-employee threshold in 2024.

“We could have hired more in 2023 but in 2024 we’re going to have massive hiring. We are hiring in nearly all departments and adding new departments and positions as well,” he said. “And while we love hiring in our backyard, can hire the best of the best wherever they are. We’ve cracked the code to not only productivity but also building a great culture where people like where they work. That’s indicated in the Best Places to Work, Top Workplace and Best Company to Work for in New York State awards we’ve won over the years. We’ve got an amazing team that keeps getting better.”