Our founders
BlaBlaCar was born from a simple idea: to optimize the use of vehicles on the road. Frédéric Mazzella, joined by Nicolas Brusson and Francis Nappez, turned this vision into reality with the ambition to make mobility more accessible, friendly, and sustainable.
Frédéric Mazzella, Chairman and Founder
Frédéric Mazzella initiated and led the entrepreneurial journey of BlaBlaCar, from the original idea to creating the world’s first long-distance carpooling community.
The idea for BlaBlaCar was born out of a personal need. He had to travel from Paris to Vendée to spend Christmas with his family, but all trains were fully booked. Ultimately, his sister, who was living in Rouen at the time, came to pick him up. On the way, he noticed most cars were empty. He realized there were free seats to get home, not on trains, but in cars! That’s how the idea of BlaBlaCar was born.
After 15 years building BlaBlaCar, Frédéric now dedicates his energy to promoting French and European entrepreneurship as Co-President of France Digitale, focusing on talent, impact, and European technological sovereignty.
Since 2016, Frédéric has served as Chairman and Founder on BlaBlaCar’s board of directors.
Frédéric holds a Master’s degree in Physics from the École Normale Supérieure (ENS Ulm), a Master’s in Computer Science from Stanford University (USA), and an MBA from INSEAD. Before founding BlaBlaCar, he worked as a scientific researcher for NASA in the USA and NTT in Japan. Frédéric is also a pianist and passionate music lover.
To share his entrepreneurial experience, Frédéric recently published Mission BlaBlaCar – Behind the Scenes of Creating a Phenomenon (Eyrolles, 2022), a dynamic narrative revealing the methods behind the global rollout of a social innovation, aimed at supporting the new generation of entrepreneurs facing today’s challenges.
Nicolas Brusson, Co-Founder and CEO
Before becoming CEO of BlaBlaCar in October 2016, Nicolas had been leading global operations and international growth since 2011 as Chief Operating Officer (COO). He notably managed three different fundraising rounds, expansion into twenty new countries, and eight acquisitions. Nicolas is a strong advocate for the autonomy of BlaBlaCar’s local teams and for “acqui-hiring,” a global growth strategy that involves recruiting an existing local team by partnering with startups on the ground. He frequently speaks on topics related to the European tech ecosystem, international growth strategies, and travel.
Before joining BlaBlaCar, he worked for various startups in Silicon Valley during the 2000s. He then became an investor and later a venture capitalist (VC) in London at Amadeus Capital Partners.
Nicolas holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Master’s degree in Optics from the École Supérieure d’Optique, and a Master’s in Applied Physics from the University of Paris XI. He is also an active business angel.
Francis Nappez, Co-Founder & Technical Advisor to the CEO
Before becoming the CEO’s Technical Advisor, Francis served as BlaBlaCar’s Chief Technology Officer since 2006. He developed the BlaBlaCar infrastructure that supported the growth of the community from a few thousand users at the start to several million today.
Francis focuses on implementing agile and sustainable solutions that can adapt to rapid growth and an ever-evolving environment. He is driven by a passion for building agile, multidisciplinary teams to create breakthrough innovations and enhance the user experience.
In 2017, Francis co-founded Tech.Rocks, a think tank that brings together Tech Leaders in France to share knowledge and grow within the tech ecosystem. Previously, he led technical development for some of Europe’s biggest internet companies, including Free and Meetic. He holds a degree in Technology and Communications Research from Joseph Fourier University.