BlaBlaCar raises $200 mn from Insight Venture Partners, others

Long-distance ridesharing platform BlaBlaCar has received a funding of USD 200 million (about Rs 1,324 crore) that will be used to expand operations across emerging markets including India and Brazil.
The Series D round was led by Insight Venture Partners and Lead Edge Capital with the participation of Vostok New Ventures.
The Paris-headquartered firm had raised 125,000 euros in Series A led by ISAI (2011), USD 10 million in Series B led by Accel Partners (2012) and USD 100 million in Series C led by Index Ventures (2014).
Set up in 2006, BlaBlaCar has over 20 million members in 19 countries. The company connects people looking to travel between cities with car owners going the same way, so both can share the cost of the travel (fuel and toll charges).

The funds will be used to expand services across existing markets as well as expand to newer geographies like Brazil, Asia and additional markets in Latin America.
BlaBlaCar, which launched its services in India in January this year, has already seen 3.5 lakh seats being offered and 1.7 crore km being shared through its marketplace.

"In the first six months alone, we have seen a strong uptake. We were surprised to see usage not just from large cities but smaller towns like Saharanpur and Moga as well. People from over 700-plus cities have used our service," BlaBlaCar Country Manager India Raghav Gupta told PTI.

He, however, did not disclose details of investments that will be directed toward India operations.
Talking about the company's monetisation model, he said the company charges a fee from co-travellers in five countries (France, the UK, Spain, Italy and Benelux) currently.
"We typically begin monetising 1-3 years after starting our service in the country. So, we will take a call on India after 12 months or so," Gupta added.