BlaBlaCar announced on June 16, 2022 that it had signed an investment agreement with IFC to support its growth in Brazil. The private sector arm of the World Bank Group is investing $15 million in the ride-sharing specialist. Beyond the financial aspect, IFC will support BlaBlaCar in the development of its activities in Brazil since it knows the local issues very well.

Stopping development in Russia

The French nugget had announced that it had raised 97 million euros in April 2021 in order to finance its growth while its activity was strongly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. As soon as business started up again, BlaBlaCar’s strategy was affected by the war in Ukraine. In a few years, the unicorn has taken over its Russian competitor Beepcar, the Russian bus operator Busfor and the Ukrainian company Octobus. Acquisitions aimed at helping it develop its activities in Russia and Ukraine.

A development strategy that has been widely questioned since the war in Ukraine. The unicorn announced that it would cease its investments in Russia last March. However, the service in this country is maintained but BlaBlaCar ensures that “the financial flows between its headquarters and its Russian subsidiary are interrupted” and cancels all development projects related to this market. A spokesperson for the company specifies that the Russian subsidiary of BlaBlaCar does not make a profit. Hence the strengthening of its presence in Latin America.

12 million members in Brazil

The French unicorn has been present in Brazil since 2015 with its carpooling platform and 2020 for the sale of bus tickets. With this financial contribution, it wants to continue the expansion of its platform in Brazil where it already has 12 million members. BlaBlaCar claims to have rapid growth in this country and to recover well from the impact of the pandemic since it claims twice as many passengers today as in 2019. BlaBlaCar expects Brazil, which is today now its third largest market in the world, will become its first market in the next few years.

The Brazilian territory is vast and the demand for long-distance transport high. But the infrastructures are often poorly adapted, the prices opaque and the security not always sufficiently assured. Above all, online sales represent less than 15% of bus ticket sales. BlaBlaCar intends to contribute to the digitization of bus companies and help them fill their bus. Today BlaBlaCar offers 12,000 routes served by 125 bus companies. By the end of the year, she wants to have 300 partner companies.

A focus on emerging markets

“We will be able to draw on IFC’s extensive experience in developing countries to continue to grow our long-distance travel offering in Brazil and other emerging markets where we operate.”, explains Nicolas Brusson, CEO and co-founder of BlaBlaCar, in a press release. Beyond Brazil, Latin America could become an essential market for BlaBlaCar and in particular Mexico. The French unicorn is also focusing on its historical markets in Europe, such as France and Spain, where rising fuel prices are encouraging the development of carpooling and the bus as a low-cost transport offer.

Today BlaBlaCar claims more than 100 million members traveling by carpooling or by bus thanks to its platform in the 22 countries where it is present. Its growth depends on the development of its activity in different geographical areas as well as the expansion of its transport offer. After carpooling and the bus, the French nugget wishes to integrate the train into its offer. It does not specify which countries or which actors are concerned, but it should be remembered that the SNCF entered the capital of BlaBlaCar in November 2018. Going in the direction of setting up a multimodal platform, the unicorn also concluded a strategic partnership with Voi in France in order to offer a self-service electric scooter service to its users.