News & Events

From The Times Union / By Larry Rulison / Jan. 17, 2025

SCHENECTADY — Transfinder, the Schenectady firm known for its school bus routing software, earned $42.2 million in revenue in 2024 — up 20 percent from $35.4 million in 2023. This year, CEO Antonio Civitella believes the privately held company can reach the $50 million plateau.

That’s because Transfinder’s strategy to enter the hardware market and start selling software to police departments appears to be taking off.

Civitella said the company has to stay hungry to reach that rate of revenue growth, especially with both big and small competitors constantly trying to steal its clients.

“It is harder and harder and harder to (win and keep customers),” Civitella said from his downtown Schenectady office on Thursday. “You’ve got to have that edge.”

Transfinder, which also has offices in Austin, Texas, and Shanghai, China, has 195 employees total, up from 182 in 2023. The company had 22 new hires in 2024, chosen from a candidate pool of 5,903 people who applied for jobs at the company.

That’s how Transfinder, which only reports its sales figures, not profit or other financial details, has been able to increase revenue every year. For instance, the company added 168 new clients in 2024, about half of whom came from competing firms. Hardware sales were up 117 percent in 2024.

Transfinder’s software helps school districts create the most efficient bus routes and also keep tabs on students and buses.

With 20 percent growth, Civitella said the company has split into two divisions. One will be called the Pupil Logistics Division serving school districts. The other division, called the Safety and Security Division, will focus on software for police departments, municipalities and similar clients in the security industry.

Transfinder’s police software is called Patrolfinder.

The software allows police departments to see which parts of the city its police patrols are going to and provides data to help police departments ensure they are spending time in the neighborhoods that need patrols and policing the most.

Civitella is helping to lead the charge on getting the word out on Patrolfinder, packing his car up on road trips to give demos of the new product to police departments and police conferences. Civitella believes Patrolfinder and other products targeting police, governments and security firms will drive new revenue growth in 2025.

Civitella said his wife noticed something different lately as he has been getting involved personally in showing off Patrolfinder, which is used throughout Schenectady County. Civitella said just because he is CEO, it doesn’t mean he can’t roll up his sleeves and do grunt work.

“I told her I love it,” Civitella said. “It’s that feeling that nothing is beneath any of us. Get your hands dirty.”