Interview with Jérôme Tredan, CEO of Matawan, who has just announced that Ubitransport has become Matawan to accelerate the deployment of new networks in France and internationally.
Ubitransport has become Matawan. Why did you change the name? This change is the result of collective reflection with our teams and the collaboration of an agency. Ubitransport was more associated with the transport industry, while we are primarily a mobility player. Furthermore, given our international ambitions, it was essential that our name embraces this dimension and has meaning beyond our borders, hence Matawan, which stands for “Mobility Any Time, Any Where, Any Node.” This name reflects our vision of accessible mobility anytime, anywhere, and regardless of the mode of transportation used. We want to connect transportation to all modes of mobility, whether it’s biking, scooters, car-sharing, or public transport, simplifying the user experience and intermodal travel, which is at the core of what Matawan offers through its services.
When was the company established? The company was founded in 2012 under the name Ubitransport. It disrupted the market by offering a cloud service to facilitate the acquisition and control of transport tickets. The initially heavy, inflexible, and costly on-board equipment in buses was replaced by a cloud-based, centrally connected system. Ubitransport initially gained traction in school transportation with its connected system, then expanded to small urban networks. It matured further to cover larger networks, both urban and interurban. Now, Matawan is deploying its solutions in major cities and working with most regions in France.
Has the business model changed significantly since 2012? What has changed significantly is the concept of shared mobility. We have always stayed true to our core business, offering cloud services to manage ticketing and payments for mobility rights, providing service quality and data management. Our cloud positioning allows us to connect different systems at the back-office level when traveling from one city to another, transitioning between different networks and modes of transportation. Our ultimate goal aligns with current political agendas, as mentioned by the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune: the future universal transport pass that allows seamless travel from point A to point B without worrying about the medium, subscription, or payment methods. It’s about providing total freedom of movement.
Where is the company today? Currently, the company serves approximately 300 networks in France, using either part or the entire Matawan offering. After being self-funded for seven years, the company raised 45 million euros in 2019 from the private equity fund Essling, with the aim of accelerating its development. This investment allowed us to focus on product improvement, innovation, and the development of sales and marketing forces. It’s worth noting that the company has been profitable since its inception, which is uncommon in the tech industry. In terms of market and clients, the company started with school transportation and small urban networks, gradually expanding to cover interurban networks in regions and significant metropolises like La Rochelle.
What has been the biggest challenge since the company’s inception? I joined the company a year ago. What’s fascinating about Matawan is that it immediately found its market; there was no Product-Market Fit issue. Jean-Paul Medioni, the founder, had a clear vision from the start: a connected SaaS service for managing user rights, fleet tracking, and connected bus equipment. Matawan, in a way, became a victim of its success, having to deliver a lot quickly, as is common for rapidly growing companies. Therefore, structuring the company to scale up without becoming cumbersome while maintaining the company’s values became essential. Matawan is a real case study in terms of startup development, constantly reinventing itself to adapt to the challenges of rapid growth. The product, developments, customer support, and user experience all need continuous analysis for improvement. Matawan, despite its startup origins, has now grown to 250 employees. We’ve retained the startup spirit of innovation and agility but have transitioned to a larger scale. This is the challenge for a startup that must constantly reinvent itself and rethink its organization while experiencing rapid growth. These are the challenges of hyper-growth.
Is the founder still part of the company? The founder has taken on the role of president. He had the foresight to recognize that the roles of founder and CEO are distinct. Not necessarily the same people have the vision of what needs to be brought to the market, especially in terms of innovation, and what needs to be done to achieve it. From the beginning, Jean-Paul Medioni wisely brought in external individuals to strengthen the organization with talents, expertise, and experiences that provided different perspectives. He did this with the humility that is a strong characteristic of Matawan’s values – the ability to question, challenge, and learn from best practices. He is still very involved in the project but has surrounded himself with a leadership team, of which he entrusted me with the responsibility to write the next chapters.
What motivated you to join the company? What was the challenge offered to you? First, the subject of mobility, which I find absolutely fascinating because it has social, environmental, and economic impacts. Mobility is about the freedom to move, access culture, employment, and the ability to see loved ones. My conviction, shared by the entire company, is that with the cloud, we can simplify everyday travel. I found this mission meaningful. We are all looking for missions that have meaning and impact. Additionally, there were these organizational challenges, writing the next chapters, bringing a lot of ambition to the project, especially on the international front, to transition to a different scale that attracted me. The third dimension is the human aspect. I found a kindness, a willingness, and a very strong ambition to take the project as far as possible. Also, there were interesting people in the leadership team, and there was a strong connection between the founder-president and the CEO, which I felt would work well as a duo. This has proven to be the case.
Since you joined, what has been the biggest challenge you have faced? And how did you overcome it? Managing a startup inevitably involves dealing with numerous immediate challenges; otherwise, we wouldn’t be a startup! However, the biggest challenge is likely knowing how to choose the right battles, making the right bets because there are many ways to develop. The strategic options and opportunities we can capture are numerous, which can be a bit overwhelming from a strategic standpoint. So, at some point, it’s essential to stop and set a course. We took the time, with the teams and management, to define who we wanted to be in the market in three to five years. This means reviewing the portfolio of offerings, giving up on certain projects, focusing on our core business, and defining who we are. The rebranding of the brand platform results from strategic reflection. It’s a project to reorganize the company. Personally, the most satisfying but also the most dizzying and challenging aspect is to say, “These are the 3, 4, 5 bets we’re making.” And you must be sure to deliver them correctly.
What are the upcoming challenges? What are the goals or the direction you have set? The first goal is international expansion. It’s always a challenge for a French company to expand outside of France. It’s a significant challenge for us. We are approaching it cautiously but decisively. We already have around twenty opportunities, as the need is global. We recently opened in Spain and have
Italy on the horizon. Simultaneously, we are considering strengthening our current positions in Canada and expanding to North America. We also have an innovation challenge. I mentioned earlier the interoperability of systems. We want to be a platform open to the ecosystem, compatible with all types of hardware, and all end-user MaaS applications in the market, capable of functioning with various payment methods. To achieve this, we must continue to innovate because it’s about maintaining the lead we have in the market, the main reason networks choose us. Finally, the third challenge is maturing on more complex networks. We work with many regions and are now able to deploy truly significant networks that may include boats, trains, buses, user applications, and equipment of very different natures. Such projects are very complex, and we have shown that we can deliver them, as seen in the La Rochelle metropolitan area that I mentioned earlier.
What has been your journey until you joined this startup? My background is a mix of large corporations and startups. I started in consulting and then spent 14 years at Microsoft leading product groups, managing the P&L of product lines such as Windows or Server products. For example, I operated the launch of Windows Azure in France. Afterward, I joined a startup in data and AI, where in six years, we achieved significant valuation levels. In 2022, I joined Matawan, a mobility scale-up.
What has surprised you the most since you took the reins? At Matawan, it’s really the level of closeness created with our clients. Before choosing a product or solution, clients choose a person. It’s a company that has innovated on the technological side but has placed commerce and business at the center of the organization. Clients are also incredibly supportive and engage in co-innovation and co-construction with us. The relationship created with our clients is almost one of our strongest assets, on par with technology.
Is there a point that I haven’t addressed that you would like to cover? I would like to emphasize that with Matawan, we have the opportunity to create a true French champion in mobility on an international scale. BlaBlaCar is there, of course, but overall, the ecosystem is incredibly rich in mobility. I believe we have all the ingredients to achieve this, truly! And we will work on it!
I noticed that you are part of the international ranking of the top 100 startups, the Red Herring Top 100 global. Is this something useful? Have you seen the impact of being in this ranking? Yes, of course, it’s a label, somewhat like the French Tech label. The fact that we have been winners of the French Tech 120 four times is a mark of quality and provides exposure. It reassures about the company’s sustainability and what we are trying to build. The strength of any label is to help in terms of visibility and reassure clients and partners that we are a significant player that they will continue to hear a lot about in the market.
Three Tips from Jérôme Tredan
1.Know when to say no and give up on certain projects if they deviate from the course you have set.
It’s one of the toughest things for an entrepreneur. For example, it’s crucial to refuse a deal that, even though it would bring in revenue, will lead you into specifics and away from the standardization that allows replication. Maintaining the course of what you want to deliver is fundamental. It’s common sense, but adhering to it is extremely tough.
2.Know how to surround yourself. When you have the right people, it’s 90% of the job.
I think you need to be willing to pay people at market rates, even if it means having fewer people. For a CEO, at least 30% of their time should be dedicated to people and human resources. When you have the right people, everything becomes much simpler.
3.Invest time in strategic vision and direction.
This gives meaning to everything else. After all, there are billions of execution problems and tons of difficulties, but if you have a clearly defined direction of who you want to be, everything makes sense and becomes simpler. So, be willing to spend time on it and ask the right questions: “What is my purpose and mission? Who do I want to be and not be? What do I need to give up?” It’s the most dizzying but also the most exciting. And, of course, be willing to make mistakes, make errors, and correct them. There is no linear trajectory in a startup or very little; otherwise, it’s suspicious. Successful startups are the ones that constantly question themselves and adapt.
