Flixbus: Disrupting transportation and mobility services

As one of Europe’s fastest growing start-ups, Flixbus has been changing the way millions of people travel. In parallel to the deregulation of the German transportation market and the end of the rail’s monopoly in early 2013, FlixBus was founded by three young entrepreneurs in Munich.

FlixBus is a combination of a tech-startup, an e-commerce platform and a transportation company committed to revolutionise the mobility market, establishing Europe's largest intercity bus network in the shortest amount of time.

Its distinctive green long distance buses have been used by more than 60 million passengers since inception, ensuring close to 100 000 daily connections to 1 000 destinations in 20 countries. Across Europe, a FlixBus is departing nearly every 30 minutes, offering a convenient, affordable and safe travel alternative to passengers of all age groups.

FlixBus’ competitive market advantage lies in its asset-light business model. The company works with a large network of independent bus partners who operate the routes and ensure the bus connections between the various destinations while FlixBus focuses on route and capacity planning, quality management, sales and marketing.

In addition, FlixBus owes its success to the superior user experience powered by a strong IT infrastructure. The company’s website and mobile application offer easy booking and reservation management solutions including paperless travel and delay notifications. The pricing mechanism is dynamic, similarly to the data-driven technology also used by airlines. These elements make Flixbus’ offer unique in terms of quality, comfort and service on the European mobility market.

EIF has supported FlixBus since the launch of its very first bus routes through its cornerstone investments in Holtzbrinck Ventures V and UnternehmerTUM-Fonds, the first institutional funds investing in Flixbus. The financing provided by funds backed by EIF has helped sustain FlixBus’ strong growth that eventually led to the takeover of MeinFernbus.de, another large mobility provider on the German market.

At the time of EIF’s investment, Holtzbrinck V was the first institutional fund raised by the previously captive team of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, whereas UnternehmerTUM-Fonds was a first time fund set up in close cooperation between EIF and UnternehmerTUM. EIF’s commitment in both funds has been made in the framework of the European Recovery Programme (ERP) mandate of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs (BMWi), which has had a significant contribution to the fundraising efforts of both teams. More recently, thanks to its 2016 vintage Holtzbrinck Ventures Co-Investment Fund backed by the ERP Co-Investment Growth Facility, Holtzbrinck has been able to continue supporting FlixBus also on subsequent growth financing rounds alongside top-tier global investors like General Atlantic and Silverlake.

Since long-distance bus transportation is still a relatively nascent market in most parts of Europe, FlixBus expects a continued expansion in terms of both passenger volumes and number of destinations, including most recently Austria, Croatia, Italy, France and the Nordic countries.