Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, BlaBlaCar
The idea for BlaBlaCar came to Frédéric Mazzella in 2003 when he needed get to the French countryside for Christmas, but all the trains were full. He begged his sister to pick him up, and on the road home he noticed that many people were driving alone. He saw those empty seats as potential for a new travel network. Over the next decade, along with co-founders Nicolas Brusson and Francis Nappez, Mazzella built his idea into the world’s leading long-distance carpooling platform. Today, BlaBlaCar is a global brand with more than 75 million members in 22 countries and more than 25 million travellers every quarter. BlaBlaCar customers saved 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 in 2018.
Mazzella was previously a Scientific Researcher with NASA and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. He holds a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University and one in physics from Ecole Normale Supérieure.
An expert on the European start-up scene, Brusson previously worked for several start-ups in Silicon Valley before moving to venture capital roles with Amadeus Capital Partners. He holds a master’s degree in optics from Ecole Supérieure d’Optique and a master’s degree in applied physics from the University of Paris XI.
“To protect the future of our environment, we must work together to take action today. Carpooling and shared mobility can significantly lower the carbon footprint of transport, without limiting travel aspirations or access to mobility.”
