BuuPass, a Nairobi-based mobility startup, is moving beyond its consumer-focused services with the introduction of a new corporate travel platform, Gavanpass. This expansion is aimed at tapping into Africa’s largely untapped and under-digitised enterprise travel sector.
According to the company, over 20 organisations in Kenya—including banks, fintech firms, insurance companies, and manufacturers—are already using the platform to streamline and manage their business travel needs. This signals early traction as BuuPass shifts its focus toward enterprise solutions.
The launch represents a strategic evolution for BuuPass, which has spent the past eight years developing a consumer marketplace for booking buses, trains, and flights. Since its establishment in 2017, the company reports selling more than 30 million tickets and processing over $100 million in travel transactions within the past year, mainly across Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa.
With Gavanpass, BuuPass is targeting finance and procurement teams responsible for managing corporate travel budgets, as well as operations staff who coordinate trips. The platform brings together bookings for flights, hotels, buses, ground transportation, and group travel into one integrated system. It also includes features such as approval workflows, policy enforcement, and real-time expense tracking, giving companies greater control and visibility over travel spending.
Co-founder and co-CEO Sonia Kabra noted that many finance leaders require more than standard consumer travel tools—they need comprehensive systems that combine convenience with robust financial controls.
Although corporate travel typically contributes about 3–5% of enterprise revenue globally, the process remains largely manual in many African markets. Bookings are often handled through phone calls or messaging apps, approvals are scattered across emails, and financial reconciliation can take weeks—especially for companies operating across multiple currencies.
BuuPass believes that existing global corporate travel platforms are not well suited to Africa’s unique business environment, which includes currency fluctuations, fragmented supplier networks, and complex cross-border travel needs. Co-founder and co-CEO Wycliffe Omondi emphasized that Gavanpass was built specifically with African finance and procurement teams in mind.
The launch comes at a time when many African startups are turning to enterprise software to achieve more stable revenue streams, particularly as funding becomes more constrained and investors demand clearer paths to profitability. Early investor FrontEnd Ventures highlighted that the new product reflects BuuPass’s strength in building solutions driven by real user needs.
Looking ahead, BuuPass plans to expand Gavanpass across sub-Saharan Africa, targeting companies with multi-country operations that require a unified platform to manage travel expenses, ensure compliance, and improve operational efficiency.