BlaBlaCar Raises $200 Million to Meet Global Demand for Ridesharing

Paris/London - BlaBlaCar, the world’s largest long-distance ridesharing community, today announces a $200 million Series D investment round led by Insight Venture Partners and Lead Edge Capital with the participation of Vostok New Ventures and Luxor. Raised to meet the demand of accelerated growth in established markets and phenomenal take-off in new markets, the round makes BlaBlaCar one of Europe’s most well-funded startups, with over $300m in funding to date.

With over 20 million members in 19 countries, BlaBlaCar has brought ridesharing to the mainstream, creating an affordable way to travel between cities that is entirely based on wasted car capacity – i.e. empty seats. The service connects people looking to travel long distances with drivers already going the same way, so both can save money by sharing the cost of their journey. This model has made BlaBlaCar a leader of the global sharing economy, and is helping to make road travel more efficient and affordable.

BlaBlaCar’s founder and CEO, Frédéric Mazzella, said: “It has been exhilarating to see our vision resonate with so many people globally, as BlaBlaCar’s community has rapidly scaled and flourished in every new market. We’ve built a unique activity based on the values of true sharing, and this funding will help unleash even more of its potential over the coming years.”

Since raising $100 million in July 2014, BlaBlaCar has become truly global, expanding across three continents into seven new countries, including three emerging markets – Turkey, India and Mexico. Already well-established in Europe, it consolidated the market with three acquisitions in Germany, Mexico and Eastern Europe, including the April 2015 acquisition of carpooling.com, then the world’s second-largest ridesharing service. The Series D comes in response to accelerated growth in Europe and a rapid take-off in emerging markets, where demand is being fuelled by gaps in public transport provision and the high cost of owning and running a car. BlaBlaCar will use the investment to support this continued growth, as well as backing future expansion. Currently, the company has its sights on Brazil, Asia and additional markets in Latin America.

Nicolas Brusson, BlaBlaCar’s co-founder and COO, said: “We have built a highly efficient new way to travel, spread over three continents and already used by over 10 million people every quarter. With this additional investment, we’ll be able to accelerate our growth in new and established markets, continuing to build the largest people-powered transport community in the world. This financing is a significant step closer to transforming mobility on a global scale.”

Jeff Horing, Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners, joins the board. He said: “I’m delighted to join Frédéric, Francis, Nicolas and the team at this pivotal moment. They have rapidly succeeded in building a unique service and scaling it globally. It’s rare to find a company whose usage volumes are already massive even though it’s only the beginning of a much bigger story.”

About BlaBlaCar

BlaBlaCar was founded in 2006 by Frédéric Mazzella, CEO, Francis Nappez, CTO, and Nicolas Brusson, COO. Currently, BlaBlaCar operates in Benelux, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, the Ukraine and the United Kingdom. About BlaBlaCar BlaBlaCar is the world’s leading long-distance ridesharing platform – a global, trusted community of drivers and passengers in 19 countries. The site and mobile apps connect people looking to travel long distances with drivers going the same way, so they can travel together and share the cost. Each passenger makes a fair contribution for their seat, and drivers cover their fuel and toll costs but do not make a profit. The platform is engineered to create a secure, trust-based community with declared identities and full member profiles. Members can even specify how chatty they are from “Bla” to “BlaBlaBla”, hence the name BlaBlaCar. For more information, please see: www.blablacar.co.uk

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $13 billion and invested in more than 250 companies worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information on Insight and all of its investments, visit https://www.insightpartners.com or follow us on twitter: @insightpartners