Carmaker Daimler led a “two-digit million euro” (€1 = $1.20) series C round for Germany-based professional driver service Blacklane yesterday through its Daimler Mobility Services subsidiary.
The round also featured RI Digital Ventures, B-to-V Partners and Alstin, and follows a mid-seven digit euro investment by Recruit Strategic Partners, the corporate venturing arm of human resources provider Recruit, in late 2014.
Blacklane operates an online platform that links passengers with professional drivers in more than 50 countries who have unused space in their vehicles, and who take on the passengers for fixed rates.
The company will now expand into other markets, particularly in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, introduce additional features to its service and enhance its apps.
Blacklane received $14m in 2013 from Moovel, the mobility services division of automotive manufacturer Daimler, online vehicle marketplace Car4you, Alstin, B-to-V and RI Digital.
Klaus Entenmann, chairman of Daimler Financial Services, said: “We want to offer flexible and innovative mobility services to our customers. Our investment in Blacklane as a global professional driver service is an important part of this strategy.
“In recent years, we at Daimler Financial Services continuously developed our mobility services and platforms, in which we invested close to €500m. We are prepared to make additional strategic investments in our mobility ecosystem.”