Via, the New York-based mobile app company competing with Uber and Lyft, announced Thursday that it has raised $27 million in a new round of funding, bringing the company's total to $37 million. The company offers a flat $5 rate in its coverage area, which is limited to between 32nd and 110th streets in Manhattan.

Daniel Ramot, a co-founder of Via, said the latest fundraising will allow the company to expand its service to the rest of Manhattan and extend its hours of operation. Via also plans to launch in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

"We're currently growing both in terms of our member base and our number of completed rides per day," he said in an email message to Crain's. "We have many hundreds of new sign-ups for the service daily, and the size of the service is doubling every few months."

The funding was led by Pitango Venture Capital, with participation from Hearst Ventures, a unit of Hearst Corp.; Ervington Investments, representing Russian billionaire (and owner of English Premier League soccer team Chelsea) Roman Abramovich; and previous investor 83North (formerly Greylock IL), which led Via’s Series A financing.

Via says its app connects passengers who are headed the same way, allowing riders to share a chauffeured vehicle at rates lower than those of Uber, Lyft or even yellow taxis. In Manhattan, Via currently charges $5 (if prepaid) or $7 for a single ride. Average pickup times are under 10 minutes.

Via says it has provided over 300,000 rides since its September 2013 launch in New York. More than 40,000 people have signed up for the service. Via has 500 drivers, all of whom are licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission and drive vans or SUVs.

Uber and Lyft, both based in San Francisco, still dominate the nascent app-based transportation industry. Uber has more than 14,000 drivers in New York City and is currently valued at over $40 billion, making it one of the most valuable tech companies in the world. Lyft is valued at $862.5 million.

Via is more akin to public transit than ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft, Mr. Ramot said.

"Via is much more like a dynamic bus, offering rides shared by multiple passengers and predictable, low, flat pricing," he said. "Via operates in the mass-transit space, not the taxi/livery/limo space."

Still, Matthew Daus, former chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission and partner at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, said he prefers Via to its better-known rivals.

"Via is a real and affordable ridesharing for people of all economic and social backgrounds—a truly innovative community transportation service that is growing in stature and passenger loyalty," he said via email. "A Silicon Alley gem."