Unlock the UK's idle minibuses. Cut costs. Cut carbon.
Bussle is a three-sided marketplace that turns thousands of parked minibuses into affordable, low-carbon transport for schools, faith groups, charities and community organisations.
Transport is expensive, and the fleet already exists — parked.
Community groups pay a premium to move people, while capable minibuses sit unused a few streets away — still insured, still costing money.
A single day trip for 15 students can cost up to this much — putting educational and community outings out of reach.
Underused minibuses in Bristol alone, with tens of thousands more sitting idle across the UK.
Some minibuses go a full year without a trip — while insurance and maintenance costs run the whole time.
The alternatives don't fit
Ride-hailing caps out at eight seats, public transport rarely matches the route or the timetable, and coach hire is expensive and inflexible. Groups are left choosing between high cost and no trip at all.
One route line connecting three sides of a marketplace.
Bussle matches spare capacity with real demand — and handles the parts that usually stop sharing from happening.
Organisations with idle minibuses
Schools, faith groups and charities that own vehicles put their spare capacity to work — turning a standing cost into value for the community.
Groups needing affordable transport
Community organisations book shared, right-sized minibus journeys at significantly reduced rates for schools, charities and community groups.
Licensed drivers
Vetted drivers — paid or voluntary — get matched to journeys that fit, keeping vehicles moving safely and reliably.
A live pilot, already moving people.
Using a lightweight system, we connected real organisations and ran real journeys — with demand validated well beyond the pilot.
School leaders interviewed — 8 of them already operating their own minibuses.
Churches engaged and interested in sharing or booking transport.
Consistent demand signal across schools, faith and community groups nationwide.
The incentives and the tools have finally lined up.
Budgets are under pressure
The cost-of-living squeeze is hitting schools, charities, and faith and community groups hard — every trip has to justify itself.
Owning a minibus costs more than ever
Rising insurance and maintenance costs give owners a real incentive to share vehicles rather than let them sit.
Communities are embracing sharing
Collaborative, community-led solutions are increasingly the default — not the exception.
Trusted platforms are now easy to build
The technology to run a safe, trusted sharing marketplace is mature and accessible — and the right team is ready to build it.
Fewer cars on the road. Cleaner journeys. At scale.
Every shared journey takes cars off the road. Our pilot showed replacing car-based travel with a full minibus cuts emissions dramatically — the core of Bussle's contribution to a sustainable planet.
minibuses across the UK within 10 years
Becoming the go-to platform for community-group transport.
Community trust, engineering depth.
Three founders combining deep community roots with the technical experience to build a marketplace people rely on.
Manu Maunganidze
Founder & Project DirectorRuns two youth organisations and has advised 200+ charities, schools and local authorities. Brings firsthand community experience, distribution and trust.
ESD Okayama Award 2024 · BBC 1Xtra Future Figures Award 2024
Tamika
Engineering Manager & Full Stack Engineer9+ years building critical infrastructure and customer-facing products in fintech. Product, UX and scaling technical teams — committed to social mobility and representation in tech.
Biruk
Backend & Systems EngineeringDeep technical and systems capability — building the reliable foundations a trusted, three-sided marketplace runs on.
Let's build this together.
We're looking for funders and impact investors who want to unlock idle capacity, cut costs for communities and cut carbon at scale.
manu@nyce.org.uk