Blacklane GmbH is a provider of premium global chauffeur services, which provides a chauffeur portal connecting people to professional chauffeurs via their mobile app, website and hotline.Millward, Steven. "Aiming to usurp Uber, Blacklane arrives in 18th Asian city with Tokyo roll-out", Tech in Asia, 12 December 2013.Karantzavelou, Vicky. , Travel Daily News, 28 March 2014. 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.Reuckert, Elena. "Ready, Set, Expand: Blacklane Launches in the UK" , Venture Village, 26 March 2014.Travolution. "Chauffeur car portal Blacklane launches in the UK", Travolution, 26 March 2014.Green, Jonathan. "Blacklane chauffeured limousine app arrives in London after successful start in Berlin", Smart Mobility Management, 21 March 2013.Schmidt, Nico and Geiger, Friedrich. "Daimler Invests in Chauffeur Portal Startup Blacklane", The Wall Street Journal, 17 December 2013.The Hundert. "BLACKLANE" , The Hundert, May 2014. Airport pickups include one hour of free waiting time, while all non-airport pickups include 15 minutes. Guests can also edit or cancel their bookings for free up to one hour before a one-way transfer.
In 2026 Uber announced an acquisition of Blacklane.
History
2011-2012
The company was founded in 2011 university friends, Jens Wohltorf and Frank Steuer, in Berlin, Germany.HKTDC. "Life in the Fast Lane", Hong Kong Trader, 18 September 2013. Backed by the investors RI Digital Ventures, B-to-V Partners, 88 investments GmbH, and Car4you, the company officially launched in June 2012.Hofmann, Alex. "Blacklane: Finanzierung für Limousinen-Dienst", Gründer Szene, 28 June 2012. From the beginning of September, they were operating in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, München and Stuttgart.Hoffmann, Jürgen. "Mehr Service, höherer Preis: Limo gefällig?", Spiegel Online, 29 October 2012. By the end of the year, they had added Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden and Hannover.Hoffmann, Jürgen. "Limousine zum Kilometertarif", Weser Kurier, 19 November 2012.Voigt, Andreas. "Blacklane: Limousinen-Service zum Taxipreis" , Neue Presse, 23 November 2012.
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.Räth, Magdalena. "Maschmeyer steigt bei Blacklane ein", Gründer Szene, 14 January 2013.Hüsing, Alexander. "AWD-Gründer Maschmeyer investiert in Blacklane – Sixt startet myDriver", Deutsche Startups, 13 January 2013. By May 2013, the company was operating in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, France and the UK.Li, Charmaine. "German Limousine Service Blacklane Scores "Several Million Euros" Funding and Aims for US Rollout", Venture Village, 21 May 2013. In August 2013, Blacklane started a project called "Mission 100", which saw 100 cities launched in as many days, ending on 16 December in Palma de Mallorca.Schmidt, Nico. "Berliner Chauffeur-Service Blacklane will die Welt erobern", The Wall Street Journal, 24 January 2014. This project took Blacklane's coverage to 130 cities and 45 countries by the end of 2013. 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.
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. Also announced in March was the testing of Blacklane's Smart Class in Berlin."Berliner Limousinenservice Blacklane jetzt auch mit Smart" , Berlin Aktuell, 11 March 2014. The "Mobilität im Wandel: Fortschritt oder Stillstand?" conference took place on 17 September 2014, in the Ritz-Carlton hotel, Berlin"Mobilität im Wandel: "Uber wird sterben"", heise online, 19 September 2014.Neumann, Peter and Rest, Jonas. "Showdown der Taxi-Duellanten", Berliner Zeitung, 17 September 2014.Mechnich, Markus. "Alles Uber oder was?", Der Tagesspiegel, 22 September 2014.Fahrun, Joachim. "Uber gegen die anderen", Die Welt, 18 September 2014.Fahrun, Joachim. "Chauffeurdienst Uber legt sich mit einer ganzen Branche an", Morgen Post, 18 September 2014. 10,12. The conference was called by Jens Wohltorf, the CEO and Founder of Blacklane,"«Alt gegen Neu»: Branche debattiert hitzig um Fahrdienst Uber", Westdeutsche Zeitung, 17 September 2014."«Alt gegen Neu»: Branche debattiert hitzig um Fahrdienst Uber", Süddeutsche Zeitung, 17 September 2014."Branche debattiert hitzig um Fahrdienst Uber", Die Welt, 17 September 2014.Fund, Dietmar. "Blacklane-Symposium konfrontiert Uber mit dem Taxigewerbe", taxi heute, 18 September 2014.Dörner, Stephan. "Daimler-Tochter arbeitet an der Abschaffung des Privatautos", The Wall Street Journal, 18 September 2014. 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. Most attention was paid to Uber Germany's General Manager and spokesperson, Fabien Nestmann,Grimm, Christian. "Der nette Herr Nestmann von Uber", The Wall Street Journal, 17 September 2014. with Uber being called "criminal", and Nestmann being asked if he is in favour of "Schwarzarbeit", by Michael Müller, 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. Further attendees and speakers included Kai Wegner of the CDU/CSU political party, Alexander Mönch from MyTaxi, Sabine Toepfer Kataw, Secretary of State in the Senate Department of Justice and Consumer Protection, Robert Henrich, from moovel GmbH, Clemens Grün, from the Hamburg Taxi Union and Sascha Schubert, from the Federal Union of German Startups.
2015 In March 2015, Blacklane partnered with Amadeus IT Group."Taxi rides join Amadeus", ttrweekly, 10 March 2015. Also in March, Blacklane was recognized as Germany's fastest growing tech startup at the European Tech5 Awards in Berlin. In April, Blacklane expanded service to 36 more cities in North America. 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." 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. Blacklane made Wired UK's list of Europe's Hottest Startups 2015.
2016
In February 2016, Blacklane added Las Vegas to its destinations"Ride App Widens Reach With Legal, Licensed Chauffeurs ", LCT Magazin, 4 April 2016. followed by Venice, Monaco and Toulouse in July."Blacklane introduce il servizio "porta a porto" a Venezia e aggiunge Tolosa e Monaco", montecarlonews, 15 July 2016. On 1 August Blacklane announced new investment in its biggest funding round yet."Daimler Doubles Down On Regulator-Friendly Ride-Booking Services", Fortune, 1 August 2016. Daimler, RI Digital Ventures, b-to-v and Alstin invested in this round."Daimler Boosts Blacklane Stake as Ride-Sharing Market Heats Up", Bloomberg 1 August 2016. The amount has been described as "eight-digit" by Daimler"chauffeur service start-up HCD Chauffeur Drive", Business Insider, 1 August 2016. or "more than 10 million euros" by Blacklane's CEO, Jens Wohltorf. In early November 2016, the German hotel reservation service HRS chose Blacklane as its “first professional driver service to transfer guests from airports to their accommodation”."Blacklane taxis to take HRS guests between hotels and airports", Travolution, 2 November 2016. In December Ralf Echtler, a former Daimler executive, joined Blacklane as chief operating and chief financial officer. Echtler had previously sat on Blacklane's board of advisors."Blacklane launches in Asia-Pacific, appoints ex-Daimler executive as COO/CFO", tech.eu, 13 December 2016."Professional driver service Blacklane expands in Asia-Pacific", Business Traveller, 15 December 2016. Blacklane also announced the rolling out of an additional 64 cities in 12 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, the opening of a regional office in Singapore and a partnership with Asia Miles. When Daimler increased their presence with Blacklane it was to enable a larger customer base in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
2017
In February 2017, Blacklane integrated with the global ground transportation system GroundSpan."Blacklane Links With Groundspan For Better Booking Options", LCT Magazine, 23 February 2017.Davies, Phil. "Blacklane unveils tie-up with ground transportation platform Groundspan", Travolution, 22 February 2017. This gave the company connectivity with the Concur Technologies, Sabre (computer system) and Travelport travel tools.
In March, Hertz announced its new "Hertz Driver Services powered by Blacklane." Hertz offers Blacklane rides around the world to customers based in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Expedia, Inc. was also named as a customer. Expedia offers Blacklane as an add-on for customers' flight and hotel reservations."Hertz’s Latest Twist Is Adding Private Driver Services From Blacklane", [http://www.skift.com/ Skift, 10 March 2017. In April, Blacklane and Asia Miles offered a triple miles promotion for every U.S. dollar, euro or British pound spent on completed rides. Asia Miles is the rewards program for Cathay Pacific airline."Blacklane launches triple Asia Miles offer", [www.businesstraveller.com Business Traveller, 24 April 2017. In June, Blacklane integrated into Finnair. The partnership allows travellers to buy airport transfers when they purchase flights. In an industry first, Finnair connects air tickets to rides with the Passenger Name Record. In September, Blacklane partnered with Qatar Airways to provide passengers with door-to-door transportation. In October, Blacklane partnered with Lufthansa’s Miles & More awards program for a promotion where members could sign up to receive five times the miles for every Blacklane ride taken that month. Blacklane also acquired Solve, an airport concierge booking service, planning to integrate their service in December. Solve offers meet and greet service, fast-track security, expedited customs and immigration, connecting flight assistance, and lounge access.
2018 24 January Blacklane announced their largest funding round to date, with ALFAHIM joining existing investors Daimler and btov Partners. They also launched their airport concierge service, Blacklane PASS, and a service class of electric vehicles called the Green Class.
2019 In February, Blacklane opened their Australian office in Brisbane. In March the company began their expansion into the Middle East by offering chauffeur services in Amman, Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon. Blacklane plans an IPO in the next three years, according to Blacklane CEO Jens Wohltorf. During an interview at a Dubai tourism fair, Wohltorf stated "this would be a natural evolution of our business model and our traction to IPO in the next years to come. That’s pretty realistic."