Start-up Mbrella raises €6 million with D'Ieteren and acquires Mob Box

Mbrella, the platform that already helps 350 companies manage their employees' mobility, has announced a €6 million fund-raising. It does so in partnership with Lab Box, D'Ieteren's start-up studio. This will enable the company to develop a solution to manage the electrification of company vehicles. In addition, the acquisition of Mob Box allows Mbrella to advise companies on their mobility plans and to meet the growing need for financial and carbon reporting. These two announcements mark a crucial stage in Mbrella's growth.

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In short

• A total of 29 people work at Mbrella thanks to the acquisition of Mob Box.
• 350 employers (including ING, Danone and BDO) are using the Mbrella platform to reduce their carbon footprint and make themselves more attractive by offering sustainable mobility benefits to 20,000 employees. Mbrella has just implemented its 5,000th mobility budget in Belgium.
• Thanks to this funding, the company is positioning itself as a key player in the new mobility for businesses. It is expanding into new areas: consultancy services (with the acquisition of Mob Box), assistance with the transition to a fleet of electric vehicles and financial and carbon reporting, a major challenge in view of the entry into force of the European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) in 2024.

Founded in 2021, Mbrella offers innovative solutions to companies to reduce their carbon footprint, optimise mobility costs and support their transition to more sustainable travel. This at a time when managing mobility is becoming increasingly complex for human resources managers. For example, Mbrella helps companies to manage the mobility budget, which allows employees to exchange their company car for an equivalent budget. Thanks to partnerships with almost all social secretaries, 5,000 mobility budgets have been implemented using the platform. In the current war for talent, offering flexible mobility is an asset for attracting and retaining employees.

Raising funds to meet the new challenges of enterprise mobility

Mbrella strengthens its position on the Belgian market thanks to this fund-raising, and will continue to develop a solution to meet the new challenges facing companies and their mobility: advice in the face of galloping complexity, help in the transition of fleets to electric power and support in data collection as well as financial and carbon reporting.

Electrification of company cars and impact on HR

The current changes in company car taxation (by 2026, deductibility will only apply to zero-emission vehicles and the CO2 contribution will have a greater influence) are confronting companies with new realities. Particularly in the management of employee electric vehicle recharging, a system that is more complex than the fuel card. Mbrella will play a key role in this transition by processing data to gain a better understanding of employees' energy mix (home or workplace recharging, public chargers, superchargers, etc.) and the associated variable costs.

Upstream support and reporting tools, thanks to the acquisition of Mob Box

Mbrella has also acquired Mob Box, a sustainable mobility consultant incubated within Lab Box, thereby expanding its range of services. Mob Box has assisted dozens of customers in Belgium and France on issues such as the multimodal potential of employees. But also on carbon audits and fleet TCO analysis (Total Cost of Ownership). Changes in taxation mean that the TCO of internal combustion vehicle fleets is set to rise by 30-50%.

Reporting is another challenge for companies in terms of mobility, sustainability and cost control. In 2024, the European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) will come into force, imposing new sustainability reporting standards. In this context, reporting on mobility will become crucial, as commuting accounts up to 90% of a company's emissions. Mbrella provides solutions to help companies measure and manage their environmental impact while maintaining effective control over mobility-related expenditure.

Amaury Gérard, CEO of Mbrella, is delighted: "We are thrilled with this successful fundraising and our strengthened partnership with D'Ieteren. This step marks a significant advance in our mission to help companies rethink their mobility for a more sustainable future. We are also looking forward to integrating Mob Box's services and leveraging their expertise to better serve our customers.”

Michaël Grandfils, managing director of Lab Box adds: "As a start-up studio committed to innovation in mobility, Lab Box is proud to support this key stage in Mbrella's growth. The growing success of the mobility budget and the new needs arising from the electrification of fleets will make Mbrella a key player.”

About Mbrella:

Founded in 2021, Mbrella is a mobility platform that helps companies implement flexible, sustainable and cost-effective mobility policies for their employees. It offers solutions for managing mobility benefits (such as the mobility budget, for which it is the expert), reporting and electric fleet supervision in one single tool. 350 companies currently use the platform, benefiting 20,000 employees.

Want more information? Feel free to contact us:              
Amaury Gerard  - contact FR
00 32 477 96 65 06  
amaury@mbrella.eu

Audrey Stampaert  - contact NL
00 32 475 51 27 63
audrey@mbrella.eu