His name may not mean anything to you, however, Frédéric Mazzella is at the origin of a platform used by many road users. In 2006, this business leader created covoiturage.fr, the site which would become Blablacar in 2011.
In 1994, Frédéric Mazzella joined the National Superior Conservatory of Music in Paris. He practices the piano. He then went to a scientific preparation class for Henri IV, he returned toENS then studied at Stanford in 1999. To pay his tuition fees, the entrepreneur worked for three years in the robotics laboratory affiliated with the physics department of his American university, which collaborates in particular with NASA.
2006, the Blablacar adventure by Frédéric Mazzella
At the end of 2003, Frédéric Mazzella was forced to travel 500 kilometers by car with his sister in order to join his family at Christmas, due to a lack of available space on the trains. During the days that followed, he thought about a solution that would make it possible to find empty seats in cars making the same journey as him. He worked for more than two years with Nicolas Brusson and Francis Nappez to create covoiturage.fr in 2006. The first mobile carpooling service, m.covoiturage.fr, was launched just after, in 2007. Frédéric Mazzella details his misadventures has Telegram : “I wanted to return to Vendée to spend the holidays there but I did it too late, there were no more train tickets. My sister takes a detour to pick me up by car. Parallel to the A10, I see a crowded TGV passing by while on the road, most of the cars are traveling almost empty. I tell myself that it’s stupid, all these wasted places! »
At the same time, the same year, Frédéric Mazzella borrowed money to complete an MBA atINSEAD. Indeed, if the entrepreneur smells the right thing and begins the Blablacar adventure with a business plan established over five years, it will not be until 2009 that he will pay his first salary!
A period of fundraising followed, with €600,000 collected in 2009, then a first round of funding of more than a million, from the ISAI fund, which, through the person of Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, had was attracted by the project in 2010, the same year when the site crossed the threshold of 500,000 members. To expand outside France, Blablacar decides to carry out a third round of funding in 2012 and will raise 7.5 million euros. The company will subsequently become one of the rare French unicorns, although this prestigious status is called into question today.
The international expansion of Blablacar
In 2011, covoiturage.fr changed its name and became Blablacar to launch internationally. The same year, the site celebrated its first million members and launched the English version of its site. The first foreign offices opened in 2012 in London and Poland. In 2013, European expansion continued with the opening of the carpooling service to Germany in particular. At the end of that year, the service offered by Blablacar will be available in six countries.
Today, the site has 87 million members in 22 countries, including Russia, Italy, Serbia, India, Mexico and Brazil. Among its members, Blablacar has nearly 25 million travelers per quarter.
Frédéric Mazzella, outstanding investor
A formidable businessman, Frédéric Mazzella is more than the founder of Blablacar. He has also invested in many companies in recent years. He thus owns shares in Le Slip Français, Zenpark, Shapr, onoff. He is also on the Trivago board.
At the same time, France Digitale, the association which brings together 1,200 startups and several digital investors and whose aim is to attract young shoots to French territory, will appoint the man who is described as “the biggest French star of the Internet” by Xavier Niel, as vice-president.
Frédéric Mazzella in Who wants to be my partner?
Today, the entrepreneur uses all his know-how and talent to sniff out the right leads for the show Who Wants to Be My Partner ? on M6. Alongside Delphine André, Catherine Barba, Marc Vanhove and Éric Larchevêque, he sees numerous startupers pitching their projects before deciding whether or not to invest in the young company.
Blablacar raises $115 million
On April 22, 2021, Blablacar announced a fundraising of $115 million to finance the development of its new services. The startup also expressed its desire to buy a Ukrainian company called Octobus.
His goal? Digitalize the bus market outside Europe even further. “ The crisis has reshuffled the cards in the mobility game, and we see interesting opportunities to accelerate our ambition to develop our multimodal offer. The fundraising, which adds to an already solid financial balance sheet, will allow us to pursue an offensive strategy as we emerge strengthened from this year of unprecedented crisis. We were in a comfortable position before this fundraising, now we are in a very good position to take risks, be offensive and think big. », explains Nicolas Brusson, co-founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar.
The book Mission BlaBlaCar by Frédéric Mazzella
Blablacar now has 100 million carpoolers around the world. The startup has established itself as an obvious place in the daily lives of travelers. In his book, mission Blablacar, Frédéric Mazzella reveals behind the scenes of his success story made in France. It also reveals the difficulties as well as the joys of entrepreneurship. The book is a concentrate of optimism which encourages younger generations to get started while taking the responsible and ethical dimension into their decisions.
Frédéric Mazzella explains to Télégramme: “ I wanted to both respond to the hundreds of young start-ups who ask me for advice on launching their business, and show you behind the scenes. I thought for a year about the right formula to arrive at this mix: an interview, in the form of questions and answers with Laure Claire and Benoît Reillier, in which I tell the genesis, the adventures and the behind the scenes of BlaBlaCar; the stories of 35 other start-ups; and method sheets, a real toolbox for knowing how to finance your first product, build your brand, find the right price, go international… My astronaut friend, Thomas Pesquetwrote the preface from space…”
La Mission, Frédéric Mazzella’s show on BFM
After Who wants to be my partner?, Frédéric Mazzella makes his return to television with La Mission, a 10-episode show broadcast on BFM Business. The objective? Showing the behind the scenes of entrepreneurship, from creating a business plan, to the challenges and difficulties that entrepreneurs encounter.
This show reveals the daily life of Frédéric Mazzella in the construction of his new entrepreneurial project. It is also a return to basics for those who did not think of creating a new company after the success of Blablacar.
Frédéric Mazzella and Captain Cause, the new project from the founder of Blablacar
The new project which is at the heart of the show La Mission de Frédéric Mazzella is Captain Cause. After having revolutionized the world of carpooling, the entrepreneur and founder of Blablacar wants to embark on a project that makes sense.
With Captain Cause, Frédéric Mazzella intends to connect companies and associations that carry out impact projects. “ I didn’t think I would “fall in love again” with an entrepreneurial project. It was in the face of current societal challenges that I decided to return to the path of entrepreneurship. Captain Cause is a company with a mission: we are creating a new source of financing for projects with social and environmental impact,” explains the entrepreneur.
