German chauffeur and limousine booking service Blacklane has closed a funding round in the “several million euros” range from existing investors Carsten Maschmeyer, RI Digital Ventures, B-to-V Partners and Car4You. With the new financing, the Berlin-based startup is looking to expand to the US.
Blacklane – which is targeted at business types – does not actually own vehicles, but instead aggregates limousine services so that they can be easily bookable through its website and app. Currently, the startup operates in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, France and Austria.
Unlike San Francisco-based on-demand private driving competitor Uber, Blacklane offers a fixed price for bookings rather than the common charge-as-you-go pricing system for car services.
With Uber already available in many US cities, Blacklane will be facing stiff competition across the pond. Not only that, if Uber’s recent setbacks – the company is facing legal troubles in Washington DC and was forced to shut down in New York – are any indication, the German startup is in for a bumpy road ahead.
