Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 18, 2026

Veniam

Veniam was an American technology company focused on building large WiFi mesh networks using moving vehicles like city buses or taxis. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California and was founded in 2012. Its technology was used in Porto's city buses with about 230,000 users with onboard units (OBUs) installed on over 600 buses, taxis and garbage trucks. It aimed to equip many moving things with wireless hotspots creating a mesh that could be used to build sensors to turn the city smarter.Each vehicle is equipped with a NetRider, a multi network unit with Wi-Fi (802.11p), DSRC, GPS and 4G/LTE connectivity.

Last revised
Jul 18, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
301 w
Citations
7
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Veniam
TypePrivate
IndustryConnected transportation
Founded2012 (2012)
FounderJoão Barros, Robin Chase, Roy Russell and Susana Sargento
FateAcquired by Nexar
Headquarters
Mountain View, California
,
United States
Key people

João Barros, Founder & CEO
Rui Costa, CTO
Jane Hoffer, CBO
ServicesVehicle based Mesh Networks & Connected Vehicles

Veniam was an American technology company focused on building large WiFi mesh networks using moving vehicles like city buses or taxis. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California and was founded in 2012.1 Its technology was used in Porto's city buses with about 230,000 users with onboard units (OBUs) installed on over 600 buses, taxis and garbage trucks.2 It aimed to equip many moving things with wireless hotspots creating a mesh that could be used to build sensors to turn the city smarter.Each vehicle is equipped with a NetRider, a multi network unit with Wi-Fi (802.11p), DSRC, GPS and 4G/LTE connectivity.3

History

Veniam was founded by João Barros, its CEO, Roy Russell, former Zipcar4 CTO,5 Susana Sargento, a professor at the University of Aveiro, and Robin Chase, former CEO of Zipcar and Buzzcar. It received 4.9 million dollars in 2014 in a funding round from True Ventures,6 USV and Cane Investments.

Veniam was acquired by Nexar in 2022.7

References

References

  1. "Startup Veniam Builds "Internet of Moving Things"". Startup50. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  2. "Hundreds of Portuguese Buses and Taxis Are Also Wi-Fi Routers". Technology Review. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  3. "A network for the Internet of (moving) Things". GCN. 2015-09-29.
  4. "Robin Chase on Zipcar and her next big idea". TED Talks. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  5. "Veniam Wants to Build a Smart City One WiFi Bus at a Time". Xconomy. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  6. "Veniam Picks Up $4.9M To Turn Buses Into Wi-Fi Hotspots". Tech Crunch. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  7. "Nexar acquires Veniam". 3 August 2022.