Hatch is DigitalOcean’s global program for startups, which provides selected growing technology companies with credits and discounts on computing resources so they can build and scale with less worry about costs. By keeping infrastructure and cost management simple, the Hatch program helps enable startups to build solutions that move society forward.
Ontra Mobility, a Y Combinator startup, transforms communities by developing data-driven tools that help cities and transit agencies plan and operate more efficient, equitable, and sustainable transportation systems, focusing on optimizing networks and improving first-and-last mile access through on-demand ridesharing. We sat down with CTO Connor Riley, who chose DigitalOcean for its simple, managed infrastructure so they can focus on making public transit more accessible. The Hatch program provided credits and resources that helped support their mission.
Solving real-world problems comes with real-world challenges
During their PhD programs at Georgia Institute of Technology, Riley and his co-founder Anthony Trasatti worked with their academic advisor, Pascal Van Hentenryck, to optimize public transit, which serves as a vital lifeline for many. Working closely with MARTA in Atlanta, GA, they developed techniques for network design optimization, special events scheduling, and dispatching algorithms for on-demand ridesharing. These projects powered on-demand ridesharing pilots MARTA Reach and CAT SMART in Savannah, Georgia.
Getting adoption for a product that serves public agencies is as much of a battle as building the product itself. Since many residents rely on public transportation, establishing trust with transit agencies is essential before they’ll risk adopting new products that could impact municipal residents. Despite these hurdles, they’re undeterred: they’ve already gained traction with a number of customers, including conducting a microtransit planning project in Washington D.C.
“It’s a challenge that we’re really excited to face, right? We want transit agencies to trust us to help them analyze their networks, plan their network changes, and operate their systems. We’re always working every day to continue to build that trust and expand our capabilities.”
— Connor Riley, CTO @ Ontra Mobility
Simplifying building with DigitalOcean and Hatch
When building city-shaping transportation technology, having simple, managed infrastructure like DigitalOcean’s allows the team to stay focused on their core mission. Using an abundance of DigitalOcean products such as Managed Kubernetes, Spaces, and Container Registry and integrations with Temporal, Argo CD, GitOps, and LetsEncrypt, Ontra Mobility is able to build a fully comprehensive planning and operations platform on our platform. Riley believes DigitalOcean’s simplicity allows the team to focus on their application itself:
“As a two person startup, DigitalOcean is perfect for what we need it to be. There’s a simplicity it offers but that simplicity has never gotten in the way of what we’re trying to do. That takes a huge burden off of us when we’re thinking more about the app and not about the infrastructure as much. I’ve been very happy with DigitalOcean.”
The Hatch program has also been a lifeline for the team. Taking advantage of their credits, priority support, and the Hatch community, the Ontra Mobility team is building their product and acquiring customers, without worrying about cloud costs.
“Because we have our credits, we didn’t have to worry about [costs] and we didn’t have to factor it into our burn rate. It has been a huge help. I’ve [also] definitely gotten some help from the Hatch community and DigitalOcean’s support [team]. When you’re two people and you’re only used to being a software developer or researcher, and now you have to figure out infrastructure, having that support and community is a comfort.”
Full speed ahead
While building Ontra Mobility, Riley emphasizes that one of the most rewarding aspects of the startup journey has been building a platform that makes their AI planning tools intuitive and user-friendly. They’re able to learn directly from the public transit agencies that they work with to build better products that will serve everyday riders.
In the future, Ontra Mobility looks to develop sophisticated AI-power optimization models, which will improve vehicle scheduling, dispatching, and more. They’re excited to begin tackling these challenges to help empower communities with frictionless and equitable transportation.
By joining the Hatch program, selected startups receive*:
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Up to $100,000 in compute credits
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Privilege GPU Droplet pricing of $1.90/GPU/hour
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3 months of free GPU usage for select startups
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Complimentary premium support
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GenAI usage with Hatch credits
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Access to a thriving community of founders and builders
*Note that GPU Droplet usage will not be covered by Hatch compute credits. This pricing is only eligible for startups who are a part of the Hatch program, and only applies to on-demand NVIDIA H100 GPU Droplets. Pricing is subject to change. This offer is accurate as of May 6, 2025.
Interested in joining the Hatch program to grow your startup? Visit do.co/hatch to learn more about the program and apply or contact our team at hatch@digitalocean.com with any questions.