BlaBlaCar Expands Beyond Europe — techcrunch.com

After raising a massive $100 million round last summer, BlaBlaCar is opening its first market outside of Europe with India — if you count Turkey and Russia as part of Europe at large. This country marks the 14th market for the company. As a reminder, BlaBlaCar is a marketplace for city-to-city rides. You browse the platform to find a driver who is driving from one city to another and book a seat in advance. Drivers can make a bit of money while riders can travel for cheap. It has the same business model as Airbnb — you pay or get money every time you ride or drive, and the company takes a 10 percent cut on average. In October, BlaBlaCar CEO Frédéric Mazzella told me that the company arranges 2 million rides per month.

Read More