Blacklane

Blacklane
Privately held company
Industry Transport
Founded September 2011 (2011-09) in Berlin, Germany
Founders Jens Wohltorf, Frank Steuer
Headquarters Berlin, Germany
Area served
 Worldwide
Services On-order professional driver and ground transportation service
Website www.blacklane.com

Blacklane GmbH is a startup company based in Berlin which provides a chauffeur portal connecting people to professional chauffeurs via their mobile app, website and hotline.[1][2] The company offers a prebooking service at a fixed rate and doesn’t own its own fleet, but works with local chauffeur companies in each of its cities.[3][4][5][6][7]

History

2011-2012

The startup was founded in 2011 by university friends, Jens Wohltorf and Frank Steuer, in Berlin, Germany.[1][6][7][8] Backed by the investors RI Digital Ventures, B-to-V Partners, 88 investments GmbH, and Car4you, the company officially launched in June 2012.[7][9] From the beginning of September, they were operating in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, München and Stuttgart.[10] By the end of the year, they had added Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden and Hannover.[11][12]

2013

In January 2013, it was reported that another investment round had successfully been closed with RI Digital Ventures, B-to-V Partners and Car4You taking part again, as well as Alternative Strategic Investments (Alstin), owned by German investor, Carsten Maschmeyer, taking part.[13][14] By May 2013, the company was operating in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, France and the UK.[15] In August 2013, Blacklane started a project called "Mission 100", which saw 100 cities launched in as many days, ending on December 16 in Palma de Mallorca.[16] This project took Blacklane's coverage to 130 cities and 45 countries by the end of 2013.[3] A day after the launch in Palma de Mallorca, it was announced that Daimler AG had invested around 10 million euros in the start up, valuing the company at just under 60 million euros.[6]

2014

In March, Blacklane officially launched in eight UK cities - London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow - after completing its year-long beta phase.[4] Also announced in March was the testing of Blacklane's Smart Class in Berlin.[17] The "Mobilität im Wandel: Fortschritt oder Stillstand?" conference took place on September 17, 2014, in the Ritz-Carlton hotel, Berlin[18][19][20][21][22] 10,12. The conference was called by Jens Wohltorf, the CEO and Founder of Blacklane,[18][19][20][22][23][24][25][26][27] in the hope of provoking an open dialogue and providing the opportunity to collaborate not through the media, but face-to-face with decision makers from government, business, the taxi industry and mobility startups.[18][19][21][22][23][24][25][26][28] Most attention was paid to Uber Germany's General Manager and spokesperson, Fabien Nestmann,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][29] with Uber being called "criminal",[18][20] and Nestmann being asked if he is in favour of "Schwarzarbeit",[21][22] by Michael Müller,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][29] the President of the German Taxi and Car Hire Association. The main argument for this was focused on opponents saying Uber was trying to get around Germany's "Personenbeförderungsgesetz" which determines the rules of passenger transportation.[18][19][22][23][24][25][26][29] Further attendees and speakers included Kai Wegner of the CDU/CSU political party,[18][19][20][22][24][25][28] Alexander Mönch from MyTaxi,[18][21][22][28] Sabine Toepfer Kataw, Secretary of State in the Senate Department of Justice and Consumer Protection,[18][19][22][23][24][25][28] Robert Henrich, from moovel GmbH,[18][26][27][28] Clemens Grün, from the Hamburg Taxi Union[19][27][29] and Sascha Schubert, from the Federal Union of German Startups.[18][22][28]

2015

In March 2015, Blacklane partnered with the multinational travel IT provider Amadeus.[30][31] Also in March, Blacklane was recognized as Germany's fastest growing tech startup at the European Tech5 Awards in Berlin.[32] In April, Blacklane expanded service to 36 more cities in North America.[33] Quartz, a news publication from Atlantic Media, used this launch to discuss the company's business model: "Blacklane, a Berlin-based taxi app operating in 186 cities across 50 countries, is betting on an alternative to price rationing: reverse Dutch auctions."[34] A traditional Dutch auction starts with a high price and consistently goes lower until the item is sold, but with reverse auctions, the price starts low and goes higher until it is sold. For Blacklane, when a ride is booked, an offer is sent out to drivers at a low price, and after a few minutes, if no one buys the ride, then the price goes up.[34] Blacklane made Wired UK's list of Europe's Hottest Startups 2015.[35]

2016

In February 2016, Blacklane added Las Vegas to its destinations[36] followed by Venice, Monaco and Toulouse in July.[37] On 1 August Blacklane announced new investment in its biggest funding round yet.[38] Daimler, RI Digital Ventures, b-to-v and Alstin invested in this round.[39] The amount has been described as "eight-digit" by Daimler[40] or "more than 10 million euros" by Blacklane's CEO, Jens Wohltorf.[39]

Regulatory opposition and outcomes

Taxi price misrepresentation 2013

In April 2013, Blacklane came under attack from taxi companies saying that they were misrepresenting their pricing.[41] The accusation, which saw Blacklane taken to court in Berlin, was that Blacklane had unfairly and, to a great part, incorrectly presented taxi prices with a number of "hidden" additional costs. These additional costs included such things as 10% for potential delays due to traffic as well as a requirement to pay a 10% tip. This led to Blacklane's own pre-tax prices, which are fixed, appearing cheaper than the pre-tax price of a taxi. This was seen as libel and Blacklane was given the chance to remove such comparisons or face either paying up to 250,000 euros in fines or having to cease operations for up to 6 months.

The Smart regulatory allowance 2014

Blacklane caused a stir again in 2014 upon rolling out their Smart Class. A German law states that all taxis and limousines must have 2 doors on the right side of the vehicle.[42] A Smart car has only one door on the right, but also only one door on the left. Taxi companies threatened to take action, accusing Blacklane of breaking the law by using Smart cars. Blacklane revealed in interviews, that they had requested and received special permission for the use of Smart cars before the launch as only one door on the right side sufficed when it came to the safety of a Smart car.[43]

Awards

At the European Tech5 Awards in March, Blacklane was named the fastest growing tech startup in Germany.[44] The company was an official contender for the title of Europe's fastest growing tech startup at The Next Web Conference in April 2015 in Amsterdam, however the award went to Amsterdam-based Fairphone.[45]

Conferences

In September 2014, Mobility in Transition, an open dialogue event in Germany, discussed the role of the taxi industry and mobility startups. Blacklane's CEO Jens Wohltorf addressed the crowd on the importance of moving and evolving together.[46] In July 2015, Tech Open Air in Berlin included a panel discussion with Blacklane, Uber and moovel on Government vs. Transportation Technology: Passengers Lose.[47]

References

  1. 1 2 Millward, Steven. "Aiming to usurp Uber, Blacklane arrives in 18th Asian city with Tokyo roll-out", Tech in Asia, 12 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Karantzavelou, Vicky. "Chauffeur portal Blacklane launches in the UK", Travel Daily News, 28 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 Reuckert, Elena. "Ready, Set, Expand: Blacklane Launches in the UK", Venture Village, 26 March 2014.
  4. 1 2 Travolution. "Chauffeur car portal Blacklane launches in the UK", Travolution, 26 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Green, Jonathan. "Blacklane chauffeured limousine app arrives in London after successful start in Berlin", Smart Mobility Management, 21 March 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 Schmidt, Nico and Geiger, Friedrich. "Daimler Invests in Chauffeur Portal Startup Blacklane", The Wall Street Journal, 17 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 The Hundert. "BLACKLANE", The Hundert, May 2014.
  8. ↑ HKTDC. "Life in the Fast Lane", Hong Kong Trader, 18 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Hofmann, Alex. "Blacklane: Finanzierung für Limousinen-Dienst", Gründer Szene, 28 June 2012.
  10. ↑ Hoffmann, Jürgen. "Mehr Service, höherer Preis: Limo gefällig?", Spiegel Online, 29 October 2012.
  11. ↑ Hoffmann, Jürgen. "Limousine zum Kilometertarif", Weser Kurier, 19 November 2012.
  12. ↑ Voigt, Andreas. "Blacklane: Limousinen-Service zum Taxipreis", Neue Presse, 23 November 2012.
  13. ↑ Räth, Magdalena. "Maschmeyer steigt bei Blacklane ein", Gründer Szene, 14 January 2013.
  14. ↑ Hüsing, Alexander. "AWD-Gründer Maschmeyer investiert in Blacklane – Sixt startet myDriver", Deutsche Startups, 13 January 2013.
  15. ↑ Li, Charmaine. "German Limousine Service Blacklane Scores "Several Million Euros" Funding and Aims for US Rollout", Venture Village, 21 May 2013.
  16. ↑ Schmidt, Nico. "Berliner Chauffeur-Service Blacklane will die Welt erobern", The Wall Street Journal, 24 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Berliner Limousinenservice Blacklane jetzt auch mit Smart", Berlin Aktuell, 11 March 2014.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Mobilität im Wandel: "Uber wird sterben"", heise online, 19 September 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Neumann, Peter and Rest, Jonas. "Showdown der Taxi-Duellanten", Berliner Zeitung, 17 September 2014.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mechnich, Markus. "Alles Uber oder was?", Der Tagesspiegel, 22 September 2014.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fahrun, Joachim. "Uber gegen die anderen", Die Welt, 18 September 2014.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fahrun, Joachim. "Chauffeurdienst Uber legt sich mit einer ganzen Branche an", Morgen Post, 18 September 2014.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "«Alt gegen Neu»: Branche debattiert hitzig um Fahrdienst Uber", Westdeutsche Zeitung, 17 September 2014.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "«Alt gegen Neu»: Branche debattiert hitzig um Fahrdienst Uber", Süddeutsche Zeitung, 17 September 2014.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Branche debattiert hitzig um Fahrdienst Uber", Die Welt, 17 September 2014.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fund, Dietmar. "Blacklane-Symposium konfrontiert Uber mit dem Taxigewerbe", taxi heute, 18 September 2014.
  27. 1 2 3 Dörner, Stephan. "Daimler-Tochter arbeitet an der Abschaffung des Privatautos", 'The Wall Street Journal, 18 September 2014.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6
  29. 1 2 3 4 Grimm, Christian. "Der nette Herr Nestmann von Uber", The Wall Street Journal, 17 September 2014.
  30. ↑ "TrustYou's new quartet, Virgin Holidays with Magnolia, Ice Portal gets Qunar, and more…", "tnooz", 5 March 2015.
  31. ↑ "Taxi rides join Amadeus", "ttrweekly", 10 March 2015.
  32. ↑ Mic Wright. "Blacklane Named Germany's Fastest Growing Tech Startup". The Next Web. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  33. ↑ Divac, Natascha. "Germany's Blacklane Gains Traction in the U.S.". The Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  34. 1 2 Herbert, David. "Blacklane wants to be Uber with a heart, if drivers and customers will let it". Quartz. Atlantic Media. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  35. ↑ http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2015/09/features/100-hottest-european-startups-2015-berlin
  36. ↑ "Ride App Widens Reach With Legal, Licensed Chauffeurs ", "lct", 4 April 2016.
  37. ↑ "Blacklane introduce il servizio "porta a porto" a Venezia e aggiunge Tolosa e Monaco", "montecarlonews", 15 July 2016.
  38. ↑ "Daimler Doubles Down On Regulator-Friendly Ride-Booking Services", "Fortune", 1 August 2016.
  39. 1 2 "Daimler Boosts Blacklane Stake as Ride-Sharing Market Heats Up", "Bloomberg" 1 August 2016.
  40. ↑ "Daimler invests in chauffeur service start-up Blacklane", [www.businessinsider.com "Business Insider"], 1 August 2016.
  41. ↑ Leipold, Richard. "Blacklane zurück auf dem Pfad der Tugend", Berliner Taxi Vereinigung 24 April 2013.
  42. ↑ "§ 25 Türen, Alarmanlage und Trennwand", [http://www.bmjv.de/DE/Home/home_node.html Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz
  43. ↑ Tönnesmann, Jens. "Verkrustete Strukturen aufbrechen", Wirtschafts Woche, 5 April 2014.
  44. ↑ Wright, Mic. "Tech5 Germany: Blacklane named Germany's fastest growing tech startup". The Next Web. The Next Web. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  45. ↑ Van Wijhe, Jelle. "Tech5: Fairphone named Europe's fastest-growing startup of 2015". The Next Web. The Next Web. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  46. ↑ http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Mobilitaet-im-Wandel-Uber-wird-sterben-2398916.html
  47. ↑ http://www.eventbrite.com/e/government-vs-transportation-technology-passengers-lose-tickets-17401870463
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