View from the top: How Blablacar boss plans to dominate the long-distance transport market

CEO and co-founder of the French ride-sharing company, Nicolas Brusson, tells Martin Friel how it will solve ‘the empty car seat problem’

Filling empty seats would cut congestion (AFP/Getty )

If you live in the UK, the chances are you have never heard of BlaBlaCar, the French ride-sharing company that has been growing exponentially across mainland Europe and beyond since its launch in 2006.

But with a value of around €1.6bn and 70 million registered users across 22 countries, BlaBlaCar is a serious player in the global road transportation market. Which makes it sound quite dull – but in fact, it looks, feels and sounds like a typical Silicon Valley tech firm.

Everything from their hip head offices in the heart of Paris, where an international culture is purposefully cultivated to the marketing and social media activity, screams modernity, youth and “wokeness”.