BlaBlaCar raises US$200M to expand in Asia, Latin America
India is a major market for BlaBlaCar, where over 350,000 seats have been offered on its platform across 700 cities
BlaBlaCar, a European online ride-sharing platform that has considerable operations in India, has raised US$200 million in Series D round of funding, led by Insight Venture Partners and Lead Edge Capital, with participation from Vostok New Ventures.
The funding will be used for scaling operations in the current markets and expanding in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America.
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With this round, the total funds raised to date by BlaBlaCar has crossed US$300 million. In July last year, the firm had raised US$100 million.
“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,” said Nicolas Brusson, Co-founder and COO of BlaBlaCar.
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Founded in 2006 by Frédéric Mazzella, Francis Nappez and Brusson, BlaBlaCar is a trusted community marketplace that connects drivers with empty seats to co-travellers looking for a ride. The company claims that over two million people use BlaBlaCar every month. It has over 20 million members in 19 countries.
Currently, it operates in Benelux, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the UK.
BlaBlaCar said in a statement that 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 to back its future expansion. Currently, the company has its sights on Brazil, Asia and additional markets in Latin America.
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Focussing on existing newer markets like India is on top of the list for BlaBlaCar. The company is already showing rapid growth in India. Over the first six months since launch, about 350,000 seats have been offered on BlaBlaCar across 700 cities in India.
Image Credit: MC Artworks/Shutterstock
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