Meet our Founders

Frédéric Mazzella, Founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar

Since pioneering the idea in 2004, Frédéric continues to lead BlaBlaCar’s vision of creating a global people-powered network with a trusted community of drivers and passengers. He focuses on the excellence of the product, establishing trust within the ridesharing community and drives the overall communication of the brand. With a data-driven mindset and a believer in the power of laughing to learn, Frédéric is also a strong advocate of sustainable development, entrepreneurship, transforming the global marketplace and building trust in online communities.

Prior to founding BlaBlaCar, Frédéric held the role of scientific researcher at NASA (USA) and NTT (Japan). He holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Computer Science from Stanford and a Masters in Physics from Ecole Normale Supérieure. Frédéric is also an accomplished classical pianist and plays the violin, guitar and drums. Tweet him @mazaic.

Nicolas Brusson, Co-Founder and COO of BlaBlaCar

Nicolas leads the company’s global operations and international growth. He drives BlaBlaCar’s corporate development and has successfully led the company’s various rounds of financing and acquisitions. Nicolas is a strong supporter of autonomous local teams and acqui-hire, a strategy he implemented to expand BlaBlaCar’s footprint to a global scale.

Prior to joining BlaBlaCar, Nicolas worked for several startups in Silicon Valley during the 2000 boom, before moving on to executive and investor roles, including that of being a Venture Capitalist in London. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Optics from Ecole Superieure d’Optique and a Masters in Applied Physics from Paris XI University. Nicolas is also an active angel investor and tweets@nbrusson.

Francis Nappez, Co-Founder and CTO of BlaBlaCar

Francis leads the technical evolution of BlaBlaCar. Feet squarely on the ground, he’s got the big picture on how the BlaBlaCar product is actually going to work. From idea to implementation, he sets project milestones, prioritises and arbitrates, manages and empowers, and oversees all the technical decisions involved. He believes in building for the long-term and staunchly refuses to ever get flustered.

Before joining BlaBlaCar, Francis led major technical developments for some of the biggest names in European consumer internet. He holds a degree in Technology and Communications Research from the Joseph Fourier University. Not only does he build technological infrastructure, but he’s also a dab hand at DIY around the house. Find him @fnapz.