Waltz Inc. Expands Board of Directors with Additions of Jay Walder and Investor Konrad R. Kruger

Waltz Inc. has announced Jay Walder, CEO of Motivate, and Konrad R. Kruger, a co-founder of Five Mile Capital Partners, joined its board of directors.

Jay Walder brings more than 30 years of experience building and leading dynamic transportation systems including the New York MTA and Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation and Transport. He currently serves as the CEO of Motivate, the global leader in bike share systems, overseeing a fleet of over 56,000 bikes across four continents. Walder has also served on the executive board of the International Association of Public Transport and the Executive Committee of the American Public Transit Association.

“Waltz’s fare payment solution is brilliant for its simplicity. Waltz works seamlessly with existing or planned fare collection programs, and provides contractors and transit agencies alike an inexpensive and quick way to bring systems to the next level of innovation,” said Walder. “Waltz also provides transit authorities with rich data about the way people are using their systems, a higher level of security using state of the art embedded cameras, and an added source of much needed revenue to maintain infrastructure.”

Konrad Kruger is a co-founder and managing member of Five Mile Capital Partners, a commercial real estate oriented private equity firm, known for having executed many landmark transactions. He has over 30 years of investment banking expertise, and formerly served as a member of NatWest Bank’s Management Committee, CEO of its Corporate Bank, and co-CEO of Greenwich NatWest, its investment bank, and predecessor, Greenwich Capital Markets Inc.

“Waltz helps building developers and managers quickly create ‘smart’ buildings, enhancing existing systems to allow better interaction with and support for tenants and residents and the way they live, work, shop, and relax,” said Kruger. “Whether entering a parking garage, heading into the office, grabbing a coffee, going to the gym, getting groceries delivered or turning in for the night, tenants can use one credential to do everything. This technology is especially a coup for tenants, owners, and managers with multiple properties, creating an ecosphere that links all their buildings together – all with the flash of a phone. In addition, the system eliminates all the frustration of waiting at a building’s guest registration desk, while providing enhanced assurances of a guest’s credentials.” 

Waltz’s proprietary technology is a new solution for secure entry into both transportation and real estate spaces, using a smartphone app to instantaneously communicate with a reader unit. The inexpensive and easy-to-install units include a screen for digital advertising, providing a revenue source and operational savings that quickly pays the cost of the units.

• Transit vertical: Through the Waltz smartphone app, users can create a personalized transit account to manage balances and quickly make fare payments through units that can be installed on buses, turnstiles, commuter trains and ferries, all without contact. The Waltz application also interacts with the advertising at each point of entry, allowing for a seamless and 360-degree advertising experience for riders – one of the reasons Waltz has been able to attract high-profile investors, including Outfront Media.
• Real Estate vertical: Waltz’s patented mobile image-based solution is the most secure building access system, revolutionizing the way people interact with properties. It provides a dynamic way to communicate with tenants and visitors through the app and on-unit digital advertising. Tenants are empowered to end the burdensome building lobby check-in process through a cloud-based registration process, facilitating office access in milliseconds while significantly enhancing security. Waltz integrates with any existing building systems, including elevator dispatch, visitor management and tenant portals.

“Waltz’s ability to attract big-name and value-add board members like Jay Walder and Konrad Kruger is a testament to the hard work of our team in creating a solution that makes people’s lives easier,” said Matt Kopel, CEO of Waltz. “Being able to draw upon their immense experience and leadership will serve us well, as we rapidly grow our user and customer base.”