Germany’s FlixMobility Reports 37 Pct Boost In Transport App Users

FlixMobility, a German transport app, on Thursday reported a 37% increase in passenger travel in 2019.

The company, with an app similar to Uber’s, partners with private sector mass transit companies.

“In just seven years, we have managed to become the largest bus provider in the world, with more than 400,000 daily connections,” said CEO Andre Schwammlein, who co-founded FlixMobility along with Jochen Engert and Daniel Krauss.

Popular for its branded green vehicles, in 2019, FlixMobility expanded into Ukraine. It also acquired Turkey’s leading bus provider Kamil Koc and long-distance coach service Eurolines. FlixMobility is operating in 30 countries.

FlixMobility launched in the United States in 2018, challenging popular companies like Greyhound, and now operates with 100 destinations from coast to coast.

The company’s backers include Holtzbrinck Ventures, the European Investment Bank, General Atlantic, Silver Lake and German auto giant Daimler.

Daimler has also collaborated with BMW to offer FREE NOW, a partnership that showcases a range of transportation services from taxis, car sharing, and ride hailing. The FREE NOW platform reached 2 billion euros last year.

While FlixMobility doesn’t report financials, Engert told Reuters in that 2019 that the company is profitable in its mature markets, breaking even as it expands in new territories.

India is a potential target market, and FlixMobility has begun regional recruiting, a company spokesman said, but it has not yet launched in the country of 1.3 billion people.

FlixTrain service in Germany will expand even more, and operations will begin in Sweden later year, the company said in a statement.

FlixCar, the company’s carpooling platform, debuted late last year in France at the end of 2019.