Will BlaBlaCar shake up French work culture?

New technology is polarising the country - but Fri(C)di(C)ric Mazzella believes that he can help change the way the French think about work

When Fri(C)di(C)ric Mazzella was struggling to find a business model for his long-distance ride-sharing company, the "It will never work" doomsayers were legion. The young entrepreneur reminded those who suggested he was wasting his time of his Italian roots. "I can eat pasta for a while longer," he would say.

Today, Mazzella, founder and president of BlaBlaCar, has proved the pessimists wrong. And how. His company is worth an estimated a1.5bn and in the last year alone has gone from 10 million to 20 million "members" - car drivers and users - and recently raised $200m in investment, a first for a French startup company.