Paris-based Ornikar, an online driving school that also helps in obtaining a driving license, has raised €100M in its Series C round of funding. The round is led by global investment firm KKR, which is making the investment primarily through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund.
In addition, existing investors including Idinvest, BPI, Elaia, Brighteye, and H14 have also participated in this round, to help the company achieve its mission of becoming a global leader in road safety.
Including this Series C round, Ornikar has now raised a total of €146M in funding to date.
Use of the funds
With Ornikar’s recent expansion into Spain and launch of its auto insurance offering Ornikar Assurance, the company will use the proceeds from this round to accelerate its international development under the Onroad brand, develop new learning resources, and expand its range of driver services.
Combining educational training and providing car insurance
Ornikar is an online driving school. It offers training for the driving license tests: an online training platform for the preparation of the highway code exam and driving lessons given by state-certified teachers to prepare you for the practical test of the driving license. It also supports you in all the administrative procedures to take your exams.
Founded in 2013 and run by Benjamin Gaignault and Flavien Le Rendu, Ornikar aims to become a global leader in road safety by combining educational training and providing car insurance. According to the company, it has helped over 1.5 million people learn the rules of the road. Currently, the company employs about 120 people.
Benjamin Gaignault, co-founder and CEO of Ornikar, said, “We are very proud to have KKR join our established investors to support our goal of becoming a global leader in road safety. We have proven the effectiveness, sustainability, and flexibility of the model we created, including showing that Ornikar can be replicated outside France. Our ambitions are far-reaching, and we aim to drive innovations that re-imagine how drivers are trained and insured. KKR is a first-rate investor and will be a huge asset in accelerating our international rollout for training, car insurance, and other driver services.”
Recent growth
In 2020, the company expanded into France’s €17B car insurance market with the launch of Ornikar Assurance. With a fast-growing presence in the Spanish market, Ornikar plans to continue its international development under the Onroad brand.
Currently, Ornikar’s platform prepares over 35 per cent of drivers for the French Code de la Route driving tests. The company plans to continue its development both in France and other countries under the Onroad brand, develop new learning resources and tools for driving instructors, and expand its range of driver services.
The company added 420,000 new users last year, growing as much as 30 per cent a month during the global pandemic, which helped to accelerate the adoption of online services.
Ornikar became a French Tech 120 member in 2020. The French Tech Next40/120 program offers support to French scaleups with the potential to become global technology leaders. Every year, 120 French startups are selected to take part in the program.
About KKR
KKR is an investment firm that manages multiple asset classes, including private equity, credit and real assets, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. The firm has about $252B (approx €209B) assets under management as of December 2020.
The firm claims to employ about 818,000 people through its private equity, TMT growth equity, infrastructure, real estate, global impact, core, balance sheet/stakes, and special situations portfolio companies.
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