French car ride marketplace BlablaCar acquires Italian competitor PostoinAuto.it

BlablaCar, a leading European marketplace that connects drivers who have empty seats with paying passengers, has today announced a further expansion across Europe with the acquisition of the largest car sharing site in Italy, PostoinAuto.it (Update – February 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website and we therefore deactivated the link).

PostoinAuto offers more than 30,000 empty seats every month, a number which is – according to BlablaCar – growing exponentially. The Italian startup was founded in 2010 and is led by the site’s founder Olivier Bremer.

We first introduced you to BlablaCar, when the Paris-based startup launched in the UK, back in June 2011. Today, the young company is one of the world’s fastest growing and most active communities of its kind.

Blablacar is now available in Spain, France, the UK and Italy, has already transported over eight million passengers and offers more than one million empty seats every month. BlablaCar’s platforms are currently helping a total of 1.7 million members, including 400,000 drivers.

In January, BlablaCar announced that it had received $10 million in funding from Accel Partners and existing investors ISAI and Cabiedes & Partners. This took the total amount of funding to $12.5 million.

Nicolas Brusson, the co-founder of BlablaCar, commented on the recent acquisition: “Following rapid expansion into Spain and the UK, and with the recent funding we received, we have been looking to expand into Italy. PostoinAuto were an ideal fit, in terms of culture, attitude and vision and we are looking forward to work together to create a truly European leader in this space.”

Find this interesting? Be sure to listen to our recent Podcast episode, where we interviewed Frédéric Mazzella, the founder and President of BlaBlaCar.

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