BlaBlaCar receives €100M to bolster multimodal growth

Paris-based BlaBlaCar announced Wednesday it has received a €100 million revolving credit facility meant to foster growth.

The shared travel marketplace, which now operates in 21 countries and combines carpooling with bus journeys from more than 5,000 operators, is aiming to grow its multimodal strategy.

Nicolas Brusson, co-founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar, said the funding will be key to its growth plans.

“This €100 million financing will enable us to pursue an ambitious growth strategy, including M&A where we are currently exploring several opportunities. Combined with continuous innovation, M&A is a tool to help us achieve market leadership faster,” he said.

The model BlaBlaCar plans to use has been implemented in France already with its Ouibus acquisition in 2019, which helped to establish the BlaBlaCar bus network in Western Europe. Likewise, in Eastern Europe and Brazil, BlaBlaCar acquired Busfor and developed its own bus marketplace.

The new funding comes on the heels of what the company called a “strong 2023.” Last year, 80 million travelers booked a bus or carpool ride on BlaBlaCar, a 23% jump from 2022. Brazil became BlaBlaCar’s leading country for carpooling with pronounced growth in Brazil and India generally.

During 2023, BlaBlaCar earned €253 million in revenue, up 29% from 2022. The year closed with positive EBITDA, which marked a new phase of profitable growth, BlaBlaCar said.

“Moving forward, the way we operate is geared towards achieving profitable growth as a fundamental principle,” Brusson said. “This milestone demonstrates BlaBlaCar’s maturity and financial stability. Nevertheless, we must remain humble: there's still a long way to go in our journey to make travel more sustainable and humane. This step allows us to pursue our mission with confidence. Today, it enables us to finance new projects, encourage new innovations and explore new acquisitions.”