Daimler investment Blacklane launches new chauffeur service

With its new service, the Berlin start-up is attacking Uber and Lyft. The service will soon also be available in Berlin.

Chauffeur start-up Blacklane is launching an assault on major rivals Uber and Lyft. The Berlin-based company plans to launch its own service in 21 cities in 11 countries later this month, according to reports including the Wall Street Journal

Already kicking off in New York on Monday, the list also includes Los Angeles, Paris and Berlin. The new service is said to be aimed primarily at business customers, for whom Blacklane drivers will take care of luggage and hold open car doors, among other things. This puts the company in direct competition with the premium offerings of Uber (Uber Black) and Lyft (Lyft Lux Black).

Blacklane actually offers a chauffeur service for rides to and from the airport, and the service was last available in 300 cities. The business suffered greatly from the Corona pandemic, which brought air travel to a virtual standstill in the interim, as Blacklane CEO Jens Wohltorf explained, "Because we depend on travel and airports, we were on the front lines of the pandemic.

Blacklane was founded in 2011, with Daimler AG as its main investor. Wohltorf had actually planned an IPO for 2023, but that is now on hold for now, he told the Wall Street Journal