From rural Kenya to Africa’s Business Heroes: The story of BuuPass through the lens of co-founder Wyclife Omondi
Wyclife Omondi’s journey to the Top 10 finalists at the 2025 Africa’s Business Heroes Edition is rooted in a deeply personal understanding of mobility as the gateway to opportunity in Africa.
From nearly missing life-changing scholarship interviews due to inaccessible transport, to later advising African governments on mobility systems at the World Bank, Wyclife’s lived experiences shaped a conviction that efficient movement is fundamental to economic empowerment.
This conviction ultimately led him to co-found BuuPass —a company now transforming intercity travel across the continent by digitizing transport operators, empowering travelers, and unlocking new pathways for work, education, and trade. His story is one of resilience, purpose, and a bold vision to build the digital infrastructure that will move Africa forward.
We had a sit-down with him to explore the journey behind this vision
FOUNDER’S JOURNEY & INSPIRATION
Wyclife, could you take us back to the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey? What sparked your interest in tech and business?
I grew up in rural Kenya, where missing the only morning bus meant missing life-changing opportunities—a reality I experienced firsthand when I almost lost my scholarships abroad because I couldn’t reach Nairobi in time for a visa interview. Studying overseas revealed that transport challenges were global, but in Africa, the consequences were far greater, as mobility often determined one’s future. That realization inspired me to dedicate my work to the intersection of technology, mobility, and opportunity creation.
Before founding BuuPass, what were you pursuing? How did your experiences shape your vision?
I worked as a transport consultant at the World Bank, helping African governments improve policy, infrastructure, and mobility systems. There, I saw how economic progress depended on efficient movement, and how fragmented transport systems were limiting Africa’s potential. That experience revealed a simple truth: fix transport, and you unlock opportunity in every sector—education, jobs, trade, and healthcare. This insight became the foundation of the BuuPass vision..
You’ve been recognized as a Top 10 finalist at Africa’s Business Heroes 2025 Edition. What does this mean to you?
This recognition reflects more than BuuPass’s success—it affirms the power of African entrepreneurs solving African challenges with innovative, locally grounded solutions. Being named a Top 10 finalist demonstrates that homegrown ideas can excel on a global stage. For me, it is both humbling and motivating, reinforcing our commitment to building not just a company, but the digital infrastructure that will transform mobility across the continent.
In a market skeptical about tech solutions, what made you confident BuuPass could work?
Having personally experienced the shortcomings of the transport system, I understood that the market was not rejecting technology, but rather solutions that failed to reflect African realities. BuuPass was built in close collaboration with operators, agents, and travelers who rely on intercity transport every day, ensuring the product was designed for their context. This alignment has driven strong adoption and reinforced our belief that when you solve real problems in ways people can relate to, trust naturally follows.
What challenges did you face early on, and how did you overcome them?
Trust was our greatest initial challenge, as many operators had previously been disappointed by ineffective systems. We earned credibility through a hands-on approach—spending months in bus stations, digitizing processes gradually, and demonstrating tangible results. We also navigated significant infrastructure hurdles, including fragmented payments, poor connectivity, and complex reconciliation. By integrating USSD for offline users, adopting local payment options, deploying offline-first devices, and automating key workflows, we established ourselves as the dependable operational backbone that operators now rely on.
THE STORY BEHIND BUUPASS
What inspired BuuPass? What problem were you trying to solve?
One simple insight: without mobility, progress is nearly impossible.
With 70% of Africans depending on intercity transport for essential activities such as education, work, trade, and healthcare, the predominantly manual system posed significant barriers. Operators relied on pen-and-paper processes that resulted in daily losses of up to $1,500 on average, due to fraud and inefficiencies, while travelers spent hours in queues with no ability to compare routes or book digitally. BuuPass set out to address both challenges simultaneously—providing operators with efficient digital tools and giving travelers seamless access to reliable transport. The goal was not merely convenience, but advancing economic inclusion across the continent.
How did you and your co-founder develop the concept?
The concept was born while we were studying abroad, where shared frustrations with inefficient transport systems highlighted the immense opportunity for digitization in Africa. Our journey began with a pilot at EasyCoach, one of Kenya’s largest bus operators, where we immersed ourselves in their stations, digitized their processes, and gained firsthand insight into their challenges. This experience informed our dual-customer model—serving both operators and travelers—which has since shaped our product strategy, partnerships, and expansion roadmap.
What sets BuuPass apart from others in the mobility space?
Three things differentiate us fundamentally.
First, we digitize the supply side: operators run their entire businesses on our platform, giving us the most accurate inventory and market data.
Second, we drive distribution through high-impact partnerships. Our APIs enable ticketing for leading banks and telcos—including Safaricom, MTN, Vodapay, and FNB—providing access to tens of millions of customers without heavy marketing spend.
Third, we offer a multi-modal, locally attuned solution. Whether buses, trains, flights, or parcels, we deliver a unified travel experience with payment options tailored to African markets. This is not a Western model adapted to Africa; it is a model built for Africa from the ground up.
Walk us through the typical BuuPass user journey.
Travelers can search, compare, and book bus, train, or flight tickets through our app, website, or offline-capable USSD channel, while corporates rely on our dashboard and operators use our desktop and POS tools for dispatch, bookings, reconciliation, and analytics. The same network also supports parcel movement, providing SMEs with dependable logistics.
Our impact is clear: we have sold over 25 million tickets, saving travelers an average of two hours and one dollar per trip, reducing carbon emissions from unnecessary journeys, and enabling operators to grow their fleets through the fraud reduction and operational visibility that digitization provides.
BUSINESS GROWTH & IMPACT
What milestones are you most proud of?
Key achievements include our partnership with Kenya Railways—through which more than 90% of government train tickets are processed—along with integrations with major telcos and banks across East and Southern Africa. We scaled organically from Kenya into Uganda and Tanzania and expanded further through two acquisitions in South Africa. Our revenue reached $2.9 million in 2024, with a clear trajectory toward $4.7 million this year.
Most importantly, our growth has translated into real human impact. We have created over 1,296 agent jobs, and operators have been able to expand their fleets thanks to reduced fraud and improved operational visibility. Behind every metric is a person whose life improved because travel became easier.
How has BuuPass scaled across African markets?
BuuPass scales smartly — not through a one-size-fits-all approach.
Each country has distinct regulations, user behaviors, and infrastructure, so we expand through a partnership-first approach with telcos, banks, retailers, agents, and operators. This approach lowers customer acquisition costs, accelerates trust, and has become one of our most powerful growth levers. Rather than imposing solutions, we co-create them with local partners who deeply understand their markets.
What has been BuuPass’s most significant contribution to the ecosystem?
We have introduced transparency, reliability, and trust into a previously informal sector. By digitizing operators, we’ve reduced revenue leakages, improved decision-making, empowered travelers with greater choice and convenience, enabled digital payments in a cash-heavy market, and supported SMEs through an affordable parcel network.
This is not merely a product upgrade—it is a system-wide transformation of how people and goods move across the continent.
What role does BuuPass play in Africa’s economic development?
Transport is the backbone of economic mobility. When travel becomes efficient, students can access education, traders can access new markets, workers can access jobs, SMEs can reach customers, and families can stay connected.
By making mobility predictable and digital, we unlock opportunity at scale. We are not just moving people—we are moving Africa forward.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
What is your 5-10 year vision for BuuPass?
I envision BuuPass becoming the digital backbone of African travel and logistics.
This means deepening supply-side digitization by onboarding thousands more operators, ferries, and trains; expanding multi-modal booking and fulfillment across buses, trains, flights, parcels, last-mile partners, and corporate mobility; and building a Pan-African network powered by the largest distribution ecosystem through telcos, banks, and agents.
We are not simply building an app—we are building the infrastructure for a continent. How do you see the African mobility landscape changing in the next decade?
Africa’s population is projected to double by 2050, driving rapid urban growth and expanding trade routes. Mobility systems will need to evolve quickly, with greater digitization, increased intermodal travel, data-driven operations, and rising consumer expectations for convenience.
BuuPass is building the infrastructure for that future today. With four in ten people expected to live in Africa by 2050, we are positioning ourselves to become the transport heroes who move them.
How do you stay ahead of technological shifts?
We stay closely aligned with the market—engaging directly with operators and customers, learning from global comparables, and using technology to solve real problems rather than to impress.
We are closely tracking trends such as AI-driven customer support, dynamic pricing, call-center intelligence, and routing optimization. Yet our core principle remains unchanged: stay grounded in reality, solve real problems, and let meaningful innovation emerge from deep understanding.
ADVICE TO ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS
What advice would you give young entrepreneurs building tech in Africa?
Begin with the problem, not the pitch. Stay close to the field and build alongside the people you intend to serve—Africa rewards entrepreneurs who remain grounded in reality. The greatest opportunities lie in solving challenges that affect millions. Don’t follow trends; pursue meaningful impact.
PERSONAL INSIGHT
What tough lessons shaped your leadership?
Patience – Transformation in traditional industries takes time. Trust cannot be rushed.
Resilience – Every setback is a lesson if you’re willing to learn. The journey from zero to one provides insights no business school can match.
Transparency strengthens teams, with honest communication fostering resilience even in difficult moments.
How do you balance growth, team building, and personal values?
I remain grounded in purpose. A clear mission simplifies decision-making and ensures alignment, even under pressure. We are building something greater than ourselves—an enduring impact that will outlast us.
How do you maintain a culture of innovation as you grow?
We hire builders and maintain close connections with customers, fostering honest feedback. Innovation flourishes when people feel heard, trusted, and aligned with the mission.
Culture isn’t what you write on paper—it’s what you reinforce daily. At BuuPass, there’s no sense of “us” and “them.” We see ourselves as collaborators in the travel ecosystem. Every team’s metrics are explicitly tied to customer satisfaction and experience.
How do you define success today?
Success is no longer just about validating the model; it is about creating lasting value for operators, travelers, and communities. It means building solutions that transform lives, generate jobs, and unlock economic opportunity across Africa.
Success is when a student makes it to their exam because they can book a ticket from their phone. Success is when an operator expands their fleet, thanks to reduced fraud. Success is when Africa moves with dignity and ease.
What motivates you, and what legacy do you want to leave?
I’m motivated by seeing people move with dignity and ease. Hearing how BuuPass transforms lives or helps operators grow their businesses digitally and geographically inspires everything we do..
My legacy vision is straightforward: to build infrastructure that unlocks opportunity for millions of Africans, demonstrate that African entrepreneurs can deliver world-class solutions to African problems, and show the impact of combining bold vision with relentless execution.
Backed by leading investors—including Google, Tim Draper, and RENEW Capital—and a team of 56 with experience spanning my time at the World Bank, we are well-positioned to facilitate seamless travel across Africa. We invite you to join us in powering Africa’s movement and expanding access to economic opportunities.
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