Europcar has taken a majority stake in French car-sharing firm Ubeeqo for an undisclosed amount.

Europcar has taken a majority stake in Ubeeqo

The rental giant said the acquisition of a majority stake, alongside the founders, in Ubeeqo, forms part of its strategy to extend its mobility offering in response to its customers’ challenges, with simple, turnkey solutions.

In addition, Europcar will subscribe to a capital increase amounting to 4 million euros aimed at supporting Ubeeqo’s development with the ambition of making it the European leader in new mobility technologies.

Ubeeqo solutions include the “Bettercar Sharing” tailored private car-sharing solution that promotes business fleet pooling and the “Bettercar Connected” fleet management solution that uses on-board telematics to enable clients analyse vehicle fleet usage (and not just costs) and generate significant new savings.

The firm also offers “Mobilities Benefits”, which allows employees to abandon their large company cars and to benefit from, in addition to a smaller car or access to a fleet of shared cars, a mobility allowance to fund their personal travel needs (train, taxi, car hire, etc).

In a statement, Europcar said that Ubeeqo solutions will be offered to Europcar’s B2B clients (a segment representing 46% of the group’s sales) thereby providing the start-up with significant development potential. The company, already present in France and Belgium, is currently setting up in Germany and is also planning to deploy in the United Kingdom thanks to support from Europcar.

Europcar CEO Philippe Germond, said: ‘With Ubeeqo, Europcar continues to develop its offering, its skills and its portfolio of technological innovations in mobility. We are immensely attracted by the ingenuity and audacity of the solutions Ubeeqo comes up with. Together, we are going to simplify our customers’ lives by providing them with a new concept that adapts seamlessly to their usage patterns and mobility challenges.’

Ubeeqo’s personnel, based in Boulogne-Billancourt, will remain under the supervision of the founders, who will steer the company’s development with the support of Europcar.

Europcar is already present in the car sharing market through a smartphone app and the Car2Go joint venture with Daimler launched in 2012.