Olokesusi: Tackling Traffic Jam In Cities Through Tech

Damilola Olokesusi is the co-founder and CEO of Shuttlers, a Nigerian technology-driven transportation startup. 

Olokesusi’s plan is to revolutionise how professionals and organisations commute in the ever-busy Lagos and Abuja metropolis.

She believes that shared mobility can have a transformative impact on the society, hence, the reason she is committed to driving that change.

“My aim of setting up Shuttlers, Nigeria’s leading tech-enabled scheduled mass transit company was to provide safe, reliable, and affordable transportation solutions to Nigerians, with a focus on creating impact in communities across the country. 

“Shuttlers is committed to tackling the negative impact of inefficiencies in the mobility space, which is visible in the quality of life, mental health, and work productivity of commuters. The company also creates jobs, reduces carbon footprint, and creates safer experiences for everyone, especially women,” Olokesusi explained.

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To achieve her goal, Olokesusi was able to raise $4 million in equity funding this year, to accelerate the growth of her company’s transportation solution in Nigeria. 

“To date, Shuttlers has now raised a combined $5.6 million. In the past 18 months, Shuttlers has achieved remarkable traction, growing its fleet by 150 per cent and expanding its routes by 25x, with a 280 per cent increase in passengers moved daily. The company has already built a loyal customer base in Lagos and is rapidly expanding its services to other cities in Nigeria,” she revealed.

Success story

Shuttlers solution is contributing to a decline in traffic in cities, as professionals can now share comfortable air-conditioned bus rides with other fellows. This is not only reducing their daily commuting stress, but it also allows passengers to interact with peers, and reduces traffic congestion and carbon emissions due to lesser private cars on highways.

Shuttlers bus can remove up to 14 to 29 cars from the road. In 2020, Damilola launched an initiative called She moves Shuttles, an all-female shuttle service. 

The project, supported by the Ford Motors Company in partnership with Global Water Challenge (GWC), has already impacted more than 600 female professionals by making their commuting easier and providing them the opportunity to use their commuting time as a learning and development time.

Olokesusi is also involved in different organisations, such as, Impact Hub and Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance to support other women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and help them grow.

Education and Career Achievements 

Olokesusi attended Airforce Comprehensive School from 1999 to 2000, and then went to All Saints College from 2000 to 2005. She later went to the University of Lagos, where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering.

She worked at Global Shapers, Lagos Hub, an initiative of World Economic Forum, as vice curator, from June 2019 to June 2020, and then moved to Impact Hub Network as business mentor (part time) from November 2020 to August 2021.

In November 2015, Olokesusi decided to create Shuttlers, as a tech and transport company aimed at enabling professionals and organisations to share rides to and from work in corporate buses.

She was recently selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Mobility 2022 by Vulog. She is poised to continue to lead innovation in the technology and transportation sectors and other sectors in Nigeria and around the world. 

Olokesusi is a Forbes 30 Under30 (2019) Recipient for Technology, and she went on to be selected by the UK government for a technology exchange in 2020. 

She has garnered accolades such as The Digital & Tech Award at the Women in Africa Contest in Morocco in 2017, the Award for the Best Idea at the Aso Villa Demo Day, where she had the opportunity of meeting the Vice President of Nigeria and Mark Zuckerberg. She has also won grants from institutions like Airtel’s Sahara, GEM-WorldBank, and Ford Motors Company.