European Unicorns Have a Lot on Their Minds, But Not IPOs

(Bloomberg) -- The entrepreneurs behind Deliveroo and Blablacar, two of Europe’s better-known unicorns, are preoccupied with Brexit, a talent shortage and scaling their businesses.

Listing their companies on the stock market, though, isn’t something they’re thinking about, Deliveroo Chief Executive Officer Will Shu and Blablacar founder Frederic Mazzella told Bloomberg TV’s Caroline Hyde at Bloomberg’s Sooner Than You Think event in Paris Wednesday.

“It’s not something we think about day to day,” Shu said, but added that, “I’m sure it’s something our investors will consider at some point.”

“For me, we are so early in what we want to accomplish that an exit event is not even on my radar,” Shu said on the sidelines of the event.

In the context of Brexit, Shu said it’s important that nationals on the continent get to continue working in the U.K., and that a lot of Deliveroo’s engineers are from places around Europe.

Mazzella said it’s currently easier to land financing than recruit talent, but that the ride-sharing company doesn’t need to raise money today.

Deliveroo is one of Europe’s biggest startups and recently raised about $480 million from investors including Fidelity and T. Rowe Price, and offers "takeaway delivery from premium restaurants," according to its website.

French Uber Technologies Inc. rival Blablacar has fetched a billion-dollar-plus valuation by attracting some 60 million drivers and passengers to its ride-sharing app. Now it’s experimenting with an insurance brokerage business that would sell packages tailored to ride-sharing.

--With assistance from Caroline Hyde.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marie Mawad in Paris at mmawad1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Nate Lanxon, Kim Robert McLaughlin

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