TechCrunch
The carpooling race in Europe has yet to produce a definitive winner, as Germany’s Carpooling.com and France’s BlaBlaCar continue to go head-to-head. Today, the latter is making its next move: BlaBlaCar is riding into Russia and the Ukraine — in part via an acquisition of local player, Podorozhniki. The price remains undisclosed.
It’s actually the fourth time BlaBlaCar has expanded via acquisition, although this is the first time outside of the European Union.
The company cites Podorozhniki’s early traction in the CIS market and its strong three-person team, led by founder Aleksey Lazorenko, as reasons for the purchase, and continuation of a strategy to gobble up the best local talent as a means to enter new markets. Also of note, Podorozhniki is backed by the Russian seed investor Arkady Moreynis.
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