Europcar buys French electric carsharing startup Ubeeqo

As people and companies look to save a bit of cash, avoid the hassle of driving everyday, or be more environmentally conscious, carsharing in its many forms has been on the rise in many markets around the world.  Since 2008, French startup Ubeeqo has offered an enterprise carsharing solution, which similar to Autolib’, provides companies with a dedicated set of electric cars for their employees to share during work as well as outside of work hours depending on availability.  They also offer other enteprise solutions such as company car fleet monitoring and optimization and management of other employee transportation expenses (eg taxis, etc).  With clients like Danone, Véolia, Michelin, Vinci, L’Oréal, Airbus and present in France and Belgium, they’ve grown 1212% in 5 years and reached 2.6 million in revenues in 2013, according to Deloitte’s Fast 50 where Ubeeqo figured #29 on the list.
Europcar, clearly realizing that this new trend could have a substantial impact on their own business, announced that they’ve acquired for an undisclosed sum.  Europcar will move to quickly integrate the startup into their organization and will invest to ensure a smooth entry into the German market, which is currently underway, and explore other key European markets like the UK . The current Ubeeqo team will manage the maintenance side of things, will Europcar will add their weight and expertise on the marketing and commercialization front. Ubeeqo’s founders will continue to remain active in the company, continuing to manage the current Ubeeqo team.