BlaBlaCar is an online marketplace for carpooling. Its website and mobile apps connect drivers and passengers willing to travel together between cities and share the cost of the journey.
The service is available in 21 countries, almost all which are in Europe - countries include Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, Poland, UK, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, India, Turkey, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Mexico, and Brasil.
Video BlaBlaCar
Concept
The service is named for its rating scale for drivers' preferred level of chattiness in the car: "Bla" for not very chatty, "BlaBla" for someone who likes to talk, and "BlaBlaBla" for those who can't shut up.
Upon creating an account, members set up an online identity, and after leaving comments on their experiences with other members, develop a reputation.
The company does not own any vehicles; it is a broker which receives a 12% commission from every booking. Connections were free between users at first but it ended in 2011. It represented 20% of the cost.
Maps BlaBlaCar
History
In 2004, Vincent Caron bought the domain name Covoiturage.fr and launched the first version of the site Covoiturage.fr. In 2006, the domain name is sold to Frédéric Mazzella. He proceeded to create the company Comuto which will become the company owner of every car-pool sites.
In August 2008, Comuto launched the second version of the web site. The new version includes a community aspect allowing public recommendation, profiles and biographies. Covoiturage.fr is both a travel web site and a community web site. As early as September 2008, Covoiturage.fr became the number one web site of carpool in France.
In 2009, Comuto launched a Spanish version of the site under the name of Comuto.es. Throughout the year, Comuto opened a lot of carpool services for companies and cities, such as : MAIF, IKEA, Vinci Park, RATP, Carrefour, the city of Montrouge and multiple others. In December 2009, the company unveiled its iPhone application, the android counterpart had to wait February 2010.
In June 2011, Comuto introduced BlaBlaCar.com in the United-Kingdom.
In June 2012, an online reservation service was added to Covoiturage.fr : users buy their trip online and the web site transfers part of the ticket price to the driver. This solution had been tested in Western France since 2011. The web service put in place its business model and began to make profits. It was also a way to attract drivers and to reach the critical mass. Between July and November, Comuto expanded in Italia, Portugal, Poland, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.
In April 2013, BlaBlaCar is launched in Germany where many other carpool sites already exist. On the 29th of April, Covoiturage.fr is re-branded BlaBlaCar.fr in order to unify all the sites under one name. At the end of the year, BlaBlaCar revealed that they have 5 million members with 1 million monthly active users spread through 10 countries.
In January 2014, BlaBlaCar is introduced in Ukraine and Russia, the company strongly considered Brazil as the next step. In September, the service had 10 million users.
In January 2015, BlaBlaCar expanded to India. The company buys multiple competitors : Carpooling in Germany, Autohop in eastern Europe and Rides in Mexico. The last operation allowed the company to set foot in the American continent, particularly in Mexico. At this time, the company had 290 employees on three continents and 20 million users in 19 countries. On the 18th of May, BlaBlaCar signed a partnership with Axa in order to insure its users.
In October 2016, BlaBlaCar signed a contract with GoEuro, a remuneration based on the number of established connections.
In April 2017, a long term rental service is offered to the best drivers. It is the result of a partnership with the constructor Opel and the company ALD Automotive, specialized in long term rental. On the 2nd of May, another application is launched : BlaBlaLines, an application for daily carpool, experimented on two lines in France. The iOS counterpart is launched on the 14th of September.
On the 30th of January 2018, BlaBlaCar gave itself a new look with a new corporate identity and style guide. A new algorithm is also put in place in order to increase the number of trips proposed for users.
Implementation through the world
Funding
In 2009, the company raised EUR600,000 from the founders and their friends and family.
In June 2010, Comuto raised 1.25 million euros from ISAI run by Jean-David Chamboredon.
In January 2012, Comuto raised 7.5 million euros from Accel Partners, ISAI and Cabiedes & Partners in order to develop its activities in Europe.
In July 2014, BlaBlaCar raised 100 million US dollars from Index Ventures with the objective of becoming the number one carpool service.
In September 2015, the company raised another $200 million, primarily from Insight Venture Partners, in a round that valued the company at USD$1.6 billion.
Critics and alternatives
The company has chosen not to expand to the United States because "gas is cheaper there, cities are too far from each other and too big to conveniently pick up and drop off people".
Monetisation seems to have killed the spirit of carpooling. Carpooling is no longer about fuel and toll. It is a brand new business. The company itself regularly increases its comission and some people have become real taxi drivers, hosting eight people on each trip making many trips a day. It is no longer just a solution to ease the road for the driver or passengers.
Last but not least, BlaBlaCar seems to be more and more "secured". Exchange of phone numbers does not exist anymore, the vocabulary used is filtered, drivers must have good grades and people use it as a service, they "have" a seat and conversation is no longer mandatory.
If BlaBlaCar posses more than 95% of the market, some solutions exist but are very small in size, mostly small communities.
New Socialization
Blablacar offers a new way of socialisation by the creation of a community. This community is called the Helpers. You can communicate with users of the platform who need help and share your knowlegdes or your Fun & Serious moments.
In addition, Blablacar generalize the carpooling and this means of transport favorise meetings between many peoples. It's a socialisation phenomenon because you can meet people from another job for example. With Blablacar, you can create new relations with others, and others that you will never have met otherwise.
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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