France-based car sharing marketplace operator BlaBlaCar raised €101m ($114m) yesterday from rail operator SNCF and existing backers including investment firm Vostok New Ventures.
BlaBlaCar runs an online platform that allows users to connect with each other to share vehicles for medium and long-distance journeys. It has more than 65 million registered members across 22 countries.
The funding was announced together with BlaBlaCar’s acquisition of OuiBus, a bus operator owned by SNCF that is present in 300 French and European cities, for an undisclosed amount.
The company intends to effectively fuse the two offerings so that users can access buses and cars to make connected journeys easier and more efficient. It plans to forge partnerships with other bus operators and the deal will help it offer services such as last-minute booking.
In addition to its investment, SNCF is also partnering BlaBlaCar to create an all-encompassing French travel service that will also incorporate train tickets, and which would theoretically enable users to book door-to-door shared travel.
Nicolas Brusson, BlaBlaCar’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “We are excited to consider joining forces with the OuiBus team to enable travellers to find diverse mobility solutions on BlaBlaCar that suit their range of needs.
“This project supports our ambition to grow a broad mobility offer across Europe, combining cars and buses. The collaboration with SNCF would also be a promising turning point in the development of intermodal and door-to-door mobility, a common ambition which we are uniquely positioned to deliver together.”
BlaBlaCar has now raised $450m in total since it was founded in 2006, including a reported $23.7m from Vostok in September 2016. It secured $200m at a $1.6bn valuation, in a series D round co-led by Insight Venture Partners and Lead Edge Capital and backed by Vostok the year before.
Accel had joined Isai and Cabiedes & Partners to provide $10m of series B funding for the company in 2012, before Index Ventures led its $100m series C round in 2014, investing alongside Accel, Isai and Lead Edge Capital.
