Participated · Equity · Apr 2021

BlaBlaCar’s core product matches drivers with empty seats to passengers and combines carpooling with bus journeys from thousands of operators, offering multimodal travel in one app. The platform serves 27 million active members a year across 21 countries and saw 80 million passenger bookings in 2023, with particularly strong growth in India and Brazil (Brazil became its leading carpooling market in 2023). The company reported €253 million in revenue in 2023, a 29% increase year‑on‑year, and has been profitable for the past 24 months, closing 2023 with positive EBITDA. BlaBlaCar says its services reduced travel’s carbon footprint by 2 million tonnes of CO2 in 2023. The company is consolidating a multimodal strategy and pursuing M&A as a growth lever, having previously acquired Ouibus in 2019 and Busfor in other markets. Management plans to use new financing and continued innovation to accelerate market leadership and expand its bus and carpool marketplace. BlaBlaCar runs a community-driven platform that fills empty seats on the road by connecting carpoolers and selling long-distance bus tickets. The company claims over 90 million members across 22 markets and says its network saves 1.6M tons of CO2 annually. BlaBlaCar reports double-digit growth in bookings for carpool and bus outside Europe and that activity outside Europe represents well over half of its business. Management says the business entered the funding round with an already strong balance sheet and the new capital will support fast growth and M&A to accelerate offline-to-online transitions for ground transportation. The company plans to double the size of its bus network over the next 18 months and expand its multimodal offering to include trains. BlaBlaCar has been pursuing acquisitions in the region to build online inventory of third-party bus operators and digitalise carriers. BlaBlaCar is a carpooling marketplace that connects drivers and passengers for long-distance rides. The company is acquiring Ouibus, the bus division of France’s national railway company SNCF, to add long-distance bus services to its platform. BlaBlaCar ran a six-month test with Ouibus on popular corridors and will now operate Ouibus services going forward. As part of the deal, SNCF and existing BlaBlaCar investors are contributing a new $114 million (€101 million) investment, and SNCF becomes an investor. Ouibus has carried more than 12 million passengers but has been relentlessly losing money, which creates financial risk for the combined business. BlaBlaCar has 65 million users in 22 countries and is about to reach profitability, positioning it to become a broader marketplace for road travel. The success of the expansion will depend on product integrations across BlaBlaCar, OUI.sncf and other platforms and on adjusting the contractor-reliant bus offering. BlaBlaCar operates a long-distance ride-sharing platform and claims 25 million members worldwide. This year the company expanded into 20 countries, with especially fast growth in emerging markets such as Russia and India. Co‑founder and COO Nicolas Brusson said at least half of recent growth came from those emerging markets. The company has completed eight acquisitions to accelerate its international expansion. Financially, BlaBlaCar pulled in $200 million this year, is valued at $1.6 billion on paper, and reports $336.52 million in the bank. Brusson said the team will consider an IPO if it makes strategic sense but intends to keep raising capital to fund rapid global growth. BlaBlaCar operates an online marketplace that lets drivers list long-distance trips and riders book seats in advance, with the company taking about a 10% cut per ride. The service positions itself as much cheaper than trains or planes (the average 200-mile ride costs about $25) and benefits from network effects that improve ride availability as membership grows. As of the article, BlaBlaCar operates in 12 countries and has 8 million members and roughly one million monthly active users (an active user is someone who shared a ride in the last month). The company reports no legal issues because it promotes a revenue-sharing model rather than profit-seeking commercial transport. Management chose to use new funding to expand internationally rather than immediately optimize for profitability, targeting markets such as Turkey, India, Brazil and Eastern Europe and opening local offices. Founded in 2004 as Covoiturage.fr, BlaBlaCar has scaled via small acquisitions and local teams to capture market share.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2018

Allplants prepares and delivers frozen, plant-based heat-at-home meals sold as build-your-box subscriptions and curated bundles. Customers pick six meals per box with portion sizes for one or two people; the range covers breakfasts, mains, snacks and treats across world cuisines. The company operates a kitchen in Walthamstow, North London and employs about 140 chefs working around the clock to prepare meals. Revenues have been more than doubling every year since the business launched in 2017. Planned product work includes expanding the meals range and developing broader product categories to meet more tastes and preferences. Allplants says it is building scalable capacity for rapid distribution into other channels, potentially including retail, and has sights on going global. The business emphasizes taste, quality and sustainability as drivers of consumer adoption among the “plant-curious” market. allplants operates an online chef-to-customer service that delivers chef-made, plant-based meals to consumers. The company runs a newly opened 20,000 square foot dedicated plant-based production kitchen in London and has celebrated serving one million vegan meals from that kitchen. allplants is a registered B-Corp and its dishes have won several Great Taste Gold Star Awards. The business plans to develop new food categories and scale operations to serve over 60,000 meals a week from its production facility. By 2025 it aims to develop distribution partnerships and expand into new markets in Europe and North America. allplants was founded in 2017 by brothers Jonathan (JP) and Alex Petrides. Allplants delivers ready-made, chef-made vegan meals that are quick-frozen and shipped either as one-off orders or via subscription. Meals are sent in six-meal batches, each serving one or two people, intended to be stored in customers' freezers and reheated as needed. The company was founded in 2017 by brothers Jonathan and Alex Petrides and is based in North London. Allplants says it has served over 250,000 meals and has built a community of more than 70,000 online fans; the company is certified as a B Corp. The startup employs a 40-plus team and plans to use investment to expand its production kitchen (operating on renewable and waste-created energy), broaden its ready-to-eat range, and accelerate community growth. Allplants positions its service as an easy, convenient way for non-vegans and the veg-curious to eat more plant-based meals to reduce environmental impact and improve health.