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<br /> France-headquartered ride-sharing platform <keyword id="2401770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BlaBlaCar">BlaBlaCar</keyword>, which entered the Indian market last year, has announced that it would now verify the government IDs for all its members, so that it can improve the safety and security for its rides. <br />
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Out of the 22 countries in which the company operates, India is the first market to have such feature introduced for verification of its riders, which was brought in a few weeks ago, based on member feedback. <br />
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"India is the first country where we have begun verification of government ID documents, such as the Aadhar card," Raghav Gupta, BlaBlaCar’s India country manager, told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/in-a-first-blablacar-introduces-verification-in-india-to-ensure-safer-rides/articleshow/53091990.cms">ET</a>. "We took the decision after our members suggested it. The idea is to create a trusted community." <br />
 <br />
The verification would be a two-step process wherein the company would be verifying the scanned document that users would upload, and the details will be matched with government database using API integration. Verified member profiles will also boost the member's profile, so that they get more requests for individuals looking to travel on the same route as them. <br />
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As of now, BlaBlaCar is not making any money in India, but is looking to monetise by the first half of 2017, for which it would charge commissions from co-travellers for the rides. <br />
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<a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j3SN5kw9z5U/maxresdefault.jpg"><em>Image source</em></a><br />

BlaBlaCar introduces government ID verification for better safety

If there is one concept that can help the odd even days in becoming successful, it’s the way in which <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ridesharing">ridesharing </a>platforms connecting private car owners and co-travellers will align themselves with the government formula and function starting January 1. Consider the fact that metros are already running at 80-90% capacity utilization. Extra coaches will be added only by mid 2016 while new DTC buses will be on the streets only by March next year. So with little capacity addition likely to happen to public transport till January,  where will the extra crowd compelled to take public transport go? People will of course need alternate modes of transport which are fast, cheap and comfortable.<br />
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In such a situation, any system that helps in utilizing vacant seats in the 2.8 million private cars in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=delhi">Delhi </a>would be the best idea. The biggest capacity expansion therefore would be by utilizing these private cars and the way it can happen is through ridesharing or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=carpooling">carpooling</a>. Realizing this fact is Raghav Gupta, India Country Manager of <keyword id="2401770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BlaBlaCar">BlaBlaCar</keyword> - one of the ridesharing platforms operating in India since January last year - who throws light on how portals like his can contribute to the odd even vehicle rule and the flip side - how the government initiative can prove a great opportunity for them to come into the spotlight. Notably, 1 million seats were offered on BlaBlaCar in the first six months in India suggesting that Indians have taken to ridesharing in a sizeable manner in the last one year. <br /><br />

	<strong>How has BlaBlaCar aligned itself with the <keyword id="6354952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Delhi-Government">Delhi government</keyword>’s odd even vehicle rule?</strong>
<br /><br /> Delhi has about 2.8 million private cars as against 80,000 taxis. So, the capacity available in private cars is very large. The way Bla Bla is contributing to the <keyword id="3164660" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Odd-Even-Rule">odd even rule</keyword> is by helping those people who are a part of the 1.4 million cars (that can operate on any given day), to put their empty seats on Bla Bla and take co-travellers plying on the same route along with them. Depending on their number plates, a car owner can select multiple dates in our app on which they would want to share their rides. So we are facilitating an easier and more efficient way of connecting them to co-travellers. <br /><br />

	<strong>Have you thought of others ways to leverage the most out of this win-win situation for you as the new rule will leave several travelers at the mercy of alternate mode of transport, something that will be in favour of your business.</strong>
<br /><br />

	Companies are helping employees in finding ways to travel in the odd even days. What we are doing is getting in touch with them to help them understand how to share rides on BlaBlaCar. Also, we have introduced a widget which can be implemented on the company’s website. Instead of coming to our portal, employees can go to the company website to publish a ride and find co-travellers on the same route. 
<br /><br />

	<strong>Considering <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=carpooling">Ola </a>and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=uber">Uber </a>may be starting carpooling feature too, do you feel it will take away your existing as well as potential members?</strong>
<br /><br />

	What I expect will happen on BlaBlaCar during odd even days will be longer trips like Gurgaon-Noida, Rohini-South Delhi, South Delhi-Faridabad. Per seat it should cost a person no more than Rs 80-100. It’s not expensive, and at the same time would be a comfortable trip. Such commuters will definitely come to BlaBlaCar.
<br /><br />

	<strong>You connect travelers, but do not charge a free. Could you explain how BlaBla Car is benefiting from this ridesharing concept?</strong>
<br /><br />

	BlaBlaCar enables car-owners with empty seats in their cars to share them with co-travellers going the same way and share the cost of the trip. We are present in 20 countries, and have a global member base of 20 million people. In India, we have seen members enrol with us from across 700 cities! At this time, we don’t monetize in India. At a later stage, we will start charging a fee on co-travellers, however, for car owners it is a free service and would continue to be. 
<br /><br />

	<strong>What kind of safety measures do you have to ensure security of both the parties? </strong>
<br /><br />

	We do some hard and soft verifications, but what works well in India is the rating system. So, when people are travelling with each other, they can rate each other on the experience. Every new person can see how the experience has been of fellow co-travellers with a particular person. Moreover apart from hardchecks, there are social profiles (showing music, interests, hobbies etc) for both the parties to see. So, in a 1-hour long travel, you want to have a comfortable journey. Lot of people with BlaBlaCar now end up travelling with owners who they share interests with and feel comfortable.

Ridesharing platform BlaBlaCar may prove to be one of the best alternative during odd-even car days, here's why!

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Onfido</span></p><p class="caption">Onfido's cofounders, from left, Husayn Kassai, Ruhul Amin, and Eamon Jubbawy.</p></div><p></p></div></div>London startup Onfido has raised new funding to help it scale its background checking technology.</p><p>The undisclosed funding - believed to be a seven figure sum - comes from Salesforce Ventures, Talis Capital, and a number of angel investors.</p><p>Founded in 2012, Onfido helps businesses like The Daily Mail and sharing economy startups like BlaBlaCar to verify that potential employees and customers are who they say they are.</p><p>The startup, which is aiming to attract more retail banks to its customer base, said the fresh injection of capital will be used specifically to expand its Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) products.</p><p>"Fintech innovation is disrupting and reshaping how financial companies operate," said Husayn Kassai, CEO and cofounder at Onfido, in a statement. "But traditional ID verification technology is not keeping up. On average, between 30-50%&amp; of people going through in-person ID verification do not complete the manual onboarding process.</p><p>"Onfido automates KYC/AML to eliminate inefficiencies and improve the experience on both sides of the transaction."</p><p>Prior to the latest round of funding, Onfido had already raised $30.3 million (£23.5 million).</p><p class="tagline"><div id="categorypromo"><p></p></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/no-mans-sky-the-most-anticipated-game-of-the-year-2016-8">The most anticipated game of the year was designed by Brits and it will take you 584 billion years to finish</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1oNGI5NTE64-mYtVb0-tXbBX8LbpU25o" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

These 3 Oxford grads just got over &#163;1 million from VCs

<p class="source"><span>Shutterstock</span></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>European tech has seen a major inflow of capital over the last five years, but the growing pool of human talent is just as important for the maturation of the ecosystem.</strong></li><li><strong>A combination of better available talent from technical universities, repeat founders reinvesting money and experience, and investors moving from the US to Europe is helping the continent replicate some of Silicon Valley's magic.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>"The old criticism of Europe was that investors didn't have experience in building companies, but that's no longer the case," said Joe Schorge, managing partner at Isomer Capital. </strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>It's been a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/european-startups-raise-30-billion-in-2019-after-amazon-sequoia-mega-deals-2019-11?r=US&amp;IR=T">record year for European startups</a>.</p><p>The continent has seen a decade that has seen the tech scene jump forward leaps and bounds with some $34 billion invested in tech startups in 2019 up from $25 billion the previous year. </p><p>That still leaves it behind the US, with American startups taking in $116.7 billion in 2019, according to Dealroom data. But it's a major step up.</p><p>And it isn't just the increase in capital. There is also more experienced talent to help build on the continent's successes, a major factor in creating a sophisticated tech ecosystem.</p><p>Silicon Valley remains a key hub for tech but the center of gravity is steadily moving, according to Eric Lagier, founder and managing partner of ByFounders, a VC focused on the Nordics.</p><p>Lagier spent 10 years in Silicon Valley as a cofounder of Memolane and still spends a week there every month to build bridges with US venture capitalists who are keen to invest in more European tech companies. </p><p>"Confidence in Europe is growing and we are in a golden era of technology," Lagier told Business Insider in an interview. "Ten years ago you had to go to the US to grow, finding tech sales talent was like finding a needle in a haystack, now the talent is here and at half the cost of San Francisco." </p><h2>Wealthy founders are reinvesting into the ecosystem</h2><p>Part of Silicon Valley's magic is the halo effect of successful founders and investors sticking around and reinvesting their gains into emerging startups, starting new funds, or lending their expertise. Take LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, who is regularly cited by fellow founders for his mentorship and advice.</p><p>Europe is beginning to see the fruits of that trend, producing its own successful founders and investors who have years of experience under their belts and can share their insights with fellow entrepreneurs.</p><p>The numbers bear this out.</p><p>The number of European unicorns grew from 10 between 2008-2013 to 99 now, per research from investor Atomico. As those unicorns exit or as founders sell their shares, wealthy entrepreneurs and early employees are able to invest back into the ecosystem.</p><p>Where previously Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invested in Uber and Twitter, now European tech and other business founders may be well-placed to fuel the next big thing. Recent examples include DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis, who invested in Bristol-based semiconductor company Graphcore and BlaBlaCar cofounder Nicolas Brusson who has invested in e-scooter startup Voi and AI ID verification company Onfido. </p><p>The anecdotal data tallies with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/talis-capital-research-finds-hnwi-and-family-offices-piling-into-tech-2019-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">research from Talis Capital</a>, a venture capital firm that invests on behalf of high-net-worth individuals.</p><p>Over the past five years, the number of individuals and families using private wealth to directly participate in VC rounds in Europe has grown five-fold to a record-breaking $5 billion. Many of these new market participants are what Joe Schorge, managing partner at Isomer Capital, calls "players-turned-coach" investors. That includes Sophia Bendz, an investor at Atomico and previously Spotify's ninth employee who led the firm's marketing. It also includes Taavet Hinrikus, cofounder of TransferWise, who has invested in more than 30 companies.</p><p>"The old criticism of Europe was that VCs didn't have experience in building companies, but that's no longer the case," Schorge told Business Insider in an interview. "We are now seeing the next generation of VC in Europe." </p><p>The number of quality companies in Europe is going up every year, according to Matt Miller, partner at Sequoia Capital.  Sequoia Capital is the archetypal Silicon Valley firm, having invested in PayPal, Google, and YouTube among others. It's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-vc-hiring-to-increase-startup-investing-europe-2019-11">now making moves into Europe</a>, Business Insider earlier reported.</p><h2>US funds venture into Europe</h2><p>Increasingly, the "flyby" approach of Silicon Valley VCs won't suffice, says Lagier, where US investors drop in occasionally or expect European firms to fly to them. Particularly when many VCs see Europe's startups as some of the best performing companies in their portfolios, he added. </p><p>"The technical talent in Europe has always been outstanding. What has changed is that more talented people are now taking the leap to start companies and work in startups in the region," he told Business Insider.  "This has us very excited about the companies being built in Europe today and I believe is the driver for why more capital is being invested in the region."</p><p>A number of US funds have set up operations in Europe and are continuing to invest, particularly in later stage companies on the continent. That included Amazon's massive round in Deliveroo and Sequoia's investment in Klarna. And New York's Insight Partners signed deals with the fintech N26 and the London startup Checkout.com.</p><p>It's more than just an attractive price, according to Schorge, who points out that the talent and experience now available to grow companies is significant. That impact isn't just spread across major cities like London or Paris. Many of Europe's biggest companies are coming from the Nordics, some of which have seen top talent return from the US.</p><p>Lagier isn't the only person to leave the US for the Nordics. Tradeshift, founded by Danish entrepreneurs in San Francisco, has seen some senior executives move back to Copenhagen. </p><p>Similarly, Peter Muhlmann, founder of Trustpilot, David Helgason, cofounder of video game developer Unity technologies, Alexander Stigsen, cofounder of Realm, Jacob Hansen, Christian Hansen, and Jakob Storm, the cofounders of Cobalt, have moved back from San Francisco to Copenhagen in the past 18 months. </p><p>In addition, Mikkel Hippe Brun, Morten Primdahl, and Alexander Aghassipour, three of the cofounders of Danish Zendesk have also moved back from Silicon Valley to Denmark to split the company's operations.</p><p>"Now if you build a great company in Europe, the best investors will find it," Schorge added. " Strong entrepreneurs and tech in Europe are helping the next generation, that's the perfect storm."</p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-airplane-takeoff-landing-are-dangerous-flight-2019-12">Why airplane takeoffs and landings are so dangerous</a></h3>

Europe's tech ecosystem is finally bucking the doubters who say it can never match Silicon Valley. Here are the ways it's catching up.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Onfido</span></p><p class="caption">Onfido's cofounders, from left, Husayn Kassai, Ruhul Amin, and Eamon Jubbawy.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Onfido, a <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> technology startup cofounded by three Oxford graduates in their twenties, is hoping to sign Airbnb as a major new customer now that <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/21/identity-verification-startup-jumio-files-for-bankruptcy-will-sell-assets-to-early-backer-eduardo-saverin/" target="_blank">rival firm Jumio has filed for bankruptcy</a>.</p><p>Onfido's identity checking platform helps businesses verify that people are who they say they are. It aims to simplify the way contractors, sharing economy users, and employees are vetted, as well as reducing the amount of time it takes to bring them onboard.</p><p>Eamon Jubbawy, Onfido COO and cofounder, told Business Insider last week that Onfido wants to try and secure Airbnb as a customer, adding that Onfido has been in correspondence with the San Francisco-based home-sharing platform.</p><p>Jubbawy suggested that landing the $24 billion (£17 billion) company as a new customer would be a big win for Onfido, which has been <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/17/onfido/" target="_blank">backed with more than $5 million (£3.5 million)</a> from Wellington Partners (one of Spotify's early investors), Dan Cobley (a former Google MD), and Brent Hoberman (lastminute.com cofounder.)</p><p>Airbnb is under pressure to improve the safety of its platform after reports suggested a number of guests have been <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1395006/airbnb-flat-owner-jailed-for-raping-us-tourists" target="_blank">raped by their hosts</a>. There have also been <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/30/airbnb-guests-trash-couples-home-during-drug-fuelled-orgy-5174271/" target="_blank">reports of guests holding wild drug-fuelled sex parties in Airbnb properties</a>.</p><p>Onfido's customers include large corporates like recruiters Morgan McKinley and Hays, and newspapers like The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard. The company's customers also include an increasing number of sharing economy businesses like Hassle.com and BlaBlaCar who want to check that the people letting out their homes and offering services are legit and trustworthy.</p><p>Unlike many other identity verification platforms, Onfido's operations are almost entirely online. Employers and sharing economy platforms send an email via Onfido to prospective employees or sharing economy users asking them to provide proof that they, for example, hold a valid driving license. Onfido's platform then automatically cross-checks these with the appropriate databases and reports back to the employer or sharing economy platform.</p><p>Onfido, which employs 90 people across London, Lisbon and San Francisco, is hoping to raise additional investment in 2016 so that it can further expand its business. Onfido CEO Husayn Kassai <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/this-oxford-grad-quit-his-job-at-merrill-lynch-to-build-a-tech-startup-2016-1" target="_blank">told Business Insider</a> in January that he was in talks with several venture capital companies but was unable to say which ones.</p><p>An Airbnb spokesman confirmed that Airbnb has held talks with Onfido. He added that there were no plans to sign a deal in the near future.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-tovala-works-keurig-food-startup-kickstarter-2016-3">We tested the 'Keurig of food' that claims it can replace everything in your kitchen</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="hzcnd1MTE6B7G5EME9AI3V5C0j0SV8N5" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

London startup Onfido wants to become Airbnb's background checker after one of its rivals filed for bankruptcy

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Onfido</span></p><p class="caption">Onfido cofounders Ruhul Amin (left) Husayn Kassai (centre), and Eamon Jubbawy (right).</p></div><p></p></div></div>Onfido has raised $25 million (£18 million) for its background checking platform from the investors behind companies like Spotify, Deezer, Happn, and Secret Escapes.</p><p>The startup, cofounded by three Oxford graduates in 2012, helps businesses like The Daily Mail and sharing economy startups like BlaBlaCar to verify that employees and contractors are who they say they are.</p><p>In order to help the company scale globally, Onfido chose to raise another round of funding. The series B funding round - led by Idinvest Partners, with participation from Wellington Partners, CrunchFund, and others - brings total funding in Onfido up to $30.3 million (£21.5 million).</p><p>Onfido CEO Husayn Kassai told Business Insider that the latest funding round will help Onfido expand deeper into the US, where it employs 10 people in San Francisco, in addition to the 86 staff it has across London and Lisbon.</p><p dir="ltr">"Our vision is to build the trust engine to power human interactions worldwide," said Kassai over email. "It could be the interaction between a passenger and a driver, a host and a guest, or even a cleaner and a homeowner. To achieve that we will be using the investment to scale our global operations and our machine-learning technology.</p><p dir="ltr">"We've seen that the US is our fastest growing market with 40% month-on-month growth. We've gained a lot of traction in the past few months with the likes of Turo and Workmarket and the demand is only growing - particularly in the sharing economy and fintech sector."</p><p>Unlike many other identity verification platforms, Onfido's operations are almost entirely online. Employers and sharing economy platforms send an email via Onfido to prospective employees or sharing economy users asking them to provide proof that they, for example, hold a valid driving license. Onfido's platform then automatically cross-checks these with the appropriate databases and reports back to the employer or sharing economy platform.</p><p>Kassai <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/this-oxford-grad-quit-his-job-at-merrill-lynch-to-build-a-tech-startup-2016-1" target="_blank">told Business Insider in January</a> that Onfido had 625 customers. Today that number stands at over a thousand.</p><h2>Working with Airbnb</h2><p>One big sharing economy company that Onfido has failed to attract is Airbnb.</p><p>Like other sharing economy companies, Airbnb is under pressure to improve the safety of its platform after reports emerged stating a number of guests have been <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1395006/airbnb-flat-owner-jailed-for-raping-us-tourists" target="_blank">raped by their hosts</a>. There have also been <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/30/airbnb-guests-trash-couples-home-during-drug-fuelled-orgy-5174271/" target="_blank">reports of guests holding wild drug-fuelled sex parties in Airbnb properties</a>.</p><p>In theory, a better background checking platform could help Airbnb to avoid these incidents.</p><p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/britains-onfido-hopes-to-become-airbnbs-background-checker-2016-3" target="_blank">Airbnb and Onfido have held talks</a> but so far no deal has been signed. Now could be a good time for Onfido to move in, however, given Airbnb's current background checker, Jumio, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/21/identity-verification-startup-jumio-files-for-bankruptcy-will-sell-assets-to-early-backer-eduardo-saverin/" target="_blank">filed for bankruptcy</a> last month.</p><p>When we asked Kassai how long it will be before Onfido lands Airbnb as a customer, he said: "We hope to work with all big players in the fintech and sharing economy sectors who require an identity verification and background checking solution. By entering the US, we are building the single, global solution that many large companies need."</p><p>Matthieu Baret, a partner at Idinvest, said in a statement: "In what is set to be a testing year for many startups, Onfido has the product and business model that will allow them to continue their strong upwards trajectory. This is why we invested and we look forward to working together as they expand to new markets and territories."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/essen-oneill-instagram-model-what-she-used-to-look-like-2016-4">The model who quit Instagram says she felt pressure to flaunt her sexuality at age 14</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dnd2FmeTpa_QMylJUDisvJHUAOdWeqhx" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "BlaBlaCar verification" and got 6 results

BlaBlaCar introduces government ID verification for better safety

BI India Bureau

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These 3 Oxford grads just got over £1 million from VCs

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Europe's tech ecosystem is finally bucking the doubters who say it can never match Silicon Valley. Here are the ways it's catching up.

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London startup Onfido wants to become Airbnb's background checker after one of its rivals filed for bankruptcy

Sam Shead

A London startup set up by 3 Oxford grads has raised $25 million for its background checking platform

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You Searched For "BlaBlaCar verification" and got 6 results

BlaBlaCar introduces government ID verification for better safety

BI India Bureau

Ridesharing platform BlaBlaCar may prove to be one of the best alternative during odd-even car days, here's why!

Anushree Singh

These 3 Oxford grads just got over &#163;1 million from VCs

Sam Shead

Europe's tech ecosystem is finally bucking the doubters who say it can never match Silicon Valley. Here are the ways it's catching up.

Callum Burroughs,Callum Burro…

London startup Onfido wants to become Airbnb's background checker after one of its rivals filed for bankruptcy

Sam Shead

A London startup set up by 3 Oxford grads has raised $25 million for its background checking platform

Sam Shead

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These 3 Oxford grads just got over £1 million from VCs