{"id":14707,"date":"2024-04-03T10:17:08","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T10:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1405351"},"modified":"2024-04-03T10:17:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T10:17:08","slug":"carpooling-rebounds-as-blablacar-raises-e100m-and-reaches-profitability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=14707","title":{"rendered":"Carpooling rebounds as BlaBlaCar raises \u20ac100M and reaches profitability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&amp;fit=1280%2C640&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2024%2F04%2FBlaBlaCar.jpg&amp;signature=1c9b890a989350fe550b522ae9a6d607\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Carpooling\u2019s resurgence continued today as France\u2019s BlaBlaCar reached two big new milestones.<\/p>\n<p>The Paris-based trip-sharing service<span> has raised a \u20ac100mn credit line and hit profitability over the last 24 months \u2014 its first full years in the black.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The company plans to use the new <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/topic\/funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">funding<\/a> to expand its multimodal transport network.<\/p>\n<p>Initially launched in 2006 to pair passengers with drivers who have spare car seats, BlaBlaCar has since added local buses to the platform. Trains are also set to join the network.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\" readability=\"0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/conference?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=display&amp;utm_campaign=global%7Ctnw_media%7Cevent_registration%7Cretargeting%7Coffer%7C2024_tnw_conference_amsterdam%7CTNW&amp;utm_content=hunt\" data-event-category=\"Article\" data-event-action=\"In Article Block\" data-event-label=\"TNW Conference 2024, June 20-21 - Join our Virtual Discount Hunt this week!\" target=\"_blank\" readability=\"6\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ica-text__title\">TNW Conference 2024, June 20-21 &#8211; Join our Virtual Discount Hunt this week!<\/p>\n<p>For a bit of Easter fun, we\u2019ve hidden a number of discount codes around our Conference website.<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis milestone demonstrates BlaBlaCar\u2019s maturity and financial stability,\u201d CEO Nicolas Brusson said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cNevertheless, we must remain humble: there\u2019s still a long way to go in our journey to make travel more sustainable and humane.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>That humility follows a tough spell for carpooling,&nbsp;which suffered through plummeting demand during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>At BlaBlaCar, issues also arose during its recent expansion plans. Uptake in new markets was spotty and an entry into Russia was disrupted by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>After a turbulent couple of years, plans to IPO were shelved in favour of private financing and future acquisitions.<\/p>\n<p>Yet hopes are now growing that the company \u2014 and sector \u2014 are making a comeback.<\/p>\n<h2>The revival of carpooling<\/h2>\n<p>Surging living costs and concerns about climate change have rejuvenated demand for cheaper, greener transport.<\/p>\n<p>The result for BlaBlaBar was<span>&nbsp;80 million passenger bookings in 2023 \u2014 23% more than in 2022. Revenue<\/span>, meanwhile, hit&nbsp;\u20ac253 million \u2014 a 29% annual increase.<\/p>\n<p>Emerging markets have provided a striking boost to the budget. BlaBlaCar highlighted India and Brazil, which are both now<span>&nbsp;experiencing triple-digit growth rates. The latter became the company\u2019s leading country for carpooling activity in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In Europe, however, the results have been mixed. My home country of the UK, for instance, has been slow to adopt BlaBlaCar, but my previous residence in Spain offered a thriving service, as well as unexpected friendships \u2014 and the odd unwelcome acquaintance.<\/p>\n<p>BlaBlaCar is betting that carpooling\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/topic\/sustainability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sustainability<\/a> leads to further growth.<\/p>\n<p>The company claims to have cut 2 million tonnes of CO2&nbsp; from travel\u2019s carbon footprint last year. It can also draw on growing support from public sector initiatives, such as a dedicated carpooling plan in France and energy savings certificates for vehicles in Spain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith these measures, governments are recognising that carpooling is an effective, targeted and immediate solution to our current and future challenges,\u201d Brusson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is clearer than ever that to limit spending, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce our carbon footprint, our travel habits must change. Shared mobility is part of the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/carpooling-comeback-blablacar-raises-100m\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carpooling\u2019s resurgence continued today as France\u2019s BlaBlaCar reached two big new milestones. The Paris-based trip-sharing service has raised a \u20ac100mn credit line and hit profitability over the last 24 months \u2014 its&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}