Zum CEO Ritu Narayan named to 2024 CNBC Changemakers List of Women Transforming Business.

Narayan founded Zum to fix student transportation and ensure millions of working families didn’t have to choose between work and caring for their kids. Today, Zum is the leader in modern student transportation and has ushered in a new era of increased safety, reliability, and sustainability.

“I am honored to be part of CNBC’s Changemakers list alongside a talented and diverse group of women who are making an impact through their innovation,” Narayan said. “I started Zum because I wanted to improve the nation’s largest mass transit system for all families, drivers and school districts across the U.S. By working together, we are moving the industry forward.”

CNBC Changemakers: Women Transforming Business, an annual list, recognizes female leaders at companies or philanthropic organizations that have crossed meaningful financial milestones and achieved significant business results within the past year.

Zum unifies parents, students, school administrators, and drivers on a single personalized end-to-end technology platform, enabling never-before achieved levels of visibility and data-backed accountability, which has ushered in a new era of increased safety, reliability, and sustainability for the school districts.

Thousands of schools across the country have partnered with Zum for school transportation, including Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the country; San Francisco Unified School District; Seattle Public Schools; Howard County Public Schools; Oakland Unified School District; and Metro Nashville Public Schools.

About Ritu Narayan

Ritu Narayan is the founder and CEO of Zum, a technology company modernizing and decarbonizing school transportation and the energy grid. Accelerating its growth, Zum recently announced $140M in funding led by GIC, with additional investment from return investors like Sequoia and Softbank, bringing Zum’s total fundraise to $350 million.
An accomplished entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience as a tech industry leader, Narayan has been named one of Goldman Sach’s Exceptional Entrepreneurs, Inc.’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur’s 100 Women of Influence, and received the 2023 Power of Women Award from GSV ASU, among other awards and accolades.

Before starting Zum, Narayan led teams at eBay, Oracle, Yahoo, and IBM. A graduate of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Narayan earned her undergraduate degree in computer science at the Delhi Institute of Technology. She lives in California, USA with her husband and two children, both of whom commuted to school safely, reliably, and sustainably thanks to Zum.