JeLoueMonCampingCar Raises 550,000€ to expand internationally and… shorten its name

French RV renting platform, JeLoueMonCampingCar.com, has reached a fundraising milestone of 550,000€. Founded in 2012, the site is a service for mobile home owners to rent out their vehicles to individuals, while they are not using it. You can think of their service as Air B&B for RVs!
JeLoueMonCamping has had significant growth in the French marketplace, noting expansion by 266% in 2014 alone, with families accounting for the largest percent of its customer base. However, 8 of every 10 consumers in France are either interested in or have taken part in the sharing economy, of which the site is a part. This means that JeLoueMonCampingCar is poised to hold its grip in France; however, it doesn’t see itself remaining just within the boundaries of their home country. The year 2015 is intended to be one of even more growth and expansion for JeLoueMonCampingCar. They plan on recruiting to grow the size of their team ahead of an expansion into Spain. With this in mind, it’s clear that funding couldn’t have arrived at a better time for the site.
Based on the looks of some of their new investors, JeLoueMonCampingCar very well may achieve some of its longterm goals. Some of the recent contributors include The Family, self-described as being “the most exclusive entrepreneurship circle in France”, as well as Stéphane Romanyszyn, founder of d’Entreparticuliers, and Arnaud Lecherf, the international commerce director of groups including IDTGV, Smartbox, and the Group Casino.
However, of even greater significance is the support brought by Frédéric Mazzella, co-founder of BlaBlaCar. Since the service is similar in principle, the sharing of vehicles, investment by founders of such a successful company as BlaBlaCar shows a big vote of confidence in JeLoueMonCampingCar. However, as they begin to expand internationally, perhaps they can take a page from their sponsor’s playbook, and work on changing their name.
BlaBlaCar evolved its name several times before sticking with what it is today. Just as with covoiturage.fr (BlaBlaCar’s original name), JeLoueMonCampingCar will not work outside a francophone market. Even a translation of it into Spanish, or other languages, would keep it just too big and bulky for better publicity, especially by word of mouth. I have confidence in this company’s ability to succeed, but for the sake of the next person writing about them, they need to work on the name.