Janelle Irwin Taylor
Weatherford Capital is investing in a leading school bus safety technology company, the investment firm announced.
The unspecified investment will help the BusPatrol company grow its business to further accommodate a 2023 law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed allowing school districts to use cameras to capture images of drivers who illegally pass school buses.
BusPatrol already partnered with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to launch a school bus camera enforcement program, the largest so far in the state.
The new state law allows districts to equip buses with cameras on stop arms — the stop signs that protrude from buses when dropping off and picking up students — and expands the ability to ticket drivers for violations.
The Virginia-based company fronted the $10 million cost to install cameras on all approximately 1,000 public school buses in Miami-Dade County and, in return, will collect half of all revenue from fines levied against drivers in violation of state law requiring motorists to stop when school buses have their stop arms down.
With new investment from Weatherford Capital, BusPatrol will be able to expand its offerings to other interested school districts.
“We are excited to welcome Weatherford Capital to BusPatrol’s safety mission,” BusPatrol CEO Karoon Monfared said. “Their deep sector expertise and investment will further accelerate our industry-disrupting approach to delivering public safety with modernizing technology. I look forward to working with Will and his team as we continue our rapid scaling.”
Weatherford Capital is a technology and business-to-government focused investment firm co-founded by Will Weatherford, a former House Speaker. He will join the BusPatrol Board along with GI Partners and FIT Ventures.
Established in 2017, BusPatrol is a leading stop-arm bus safety solutions company. It collaborates with school districts, law enforcement agencies and municipalities to thwart illegal and dangerous school bus passings. Its offerings include cloud-connected internal cameras and telematics data school districts can use to ensure student safety.
“BusPatrol is a cutting-edge public safety company that is bringing innovation to pupil transportation in Florida and across the country. As a former public official, what most attracted me to BusPatrol is their ability to deploy tailored community partnerships that actually make our children safer — and to do it on an unmatched scale in the industry,” Weatherford said.
Weatherford Capital has more than $1 billion of assets under management and, to date, has transacted 23 platform investments across a variety of sectors, including technology, finance, business and consumer services. It specializes in business-to-business, business-to-government and highly regulated industries. The firm has offices in Tampa and Dallas.
Its latest investment comes after Weatherford Capital also launched Collegiate Athletic Solutions, a “purpose-driven, dedicated capital and business-building platform” for school athletics, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
