Press Release: Poparide Expands its 50,000 Members Platform to Kingston

Western Canada’s largest city-to-city rideshare platform opens an office in Kingston to provide affordable transport for locals and students on the 401 highway between Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa and Montréal.

Kingston, ON: Poparide today announced it has opened an office in Kingston at The Sanctuary coworking space to support its expansion in Ontario. The platform launched in Vancouver, BC in December 2014 and boasts over 50,000 members who share rides between cities using Poparide’s website and mobile app.

“The 401 is one of the busiest corridors in North America, and also one where travel is most difficult if you don’t own a car. Bus and train prices are high, and yet there are thousands of vehicles with empty seats passing by on the highway every day. With Poparide, we can fill those seats and provide an affordable way for students and locals to travel”, says Flo Devellennes, co-founder and CEO of Poparide.

The platform lets drivers post their seats and receive a financial contribution towards their costs. “It’s similar to carpooling, but long distance”, explains Devellennes. “Unlike Uber, our drivers don’t drive people on-demand but instead fill seats on trips they had already planned. This fundamental difference allows us to operate within carpooling laws which also makes our pricing on average 10 cents per kilometre, compared to over $1 per kilometre for Uber”.

Poparide is among the new breed of for-profit companies driven to create impact and change the way business is done. Through technological innovations and new business models there has been a surge in collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer platforms across the globe. “Ultimately, Poparide is a community. Our mission is to help people travel together, meet in the real world and reduce their environmental impact”, adds Devellennes.

Insights on Poparide growth and momentum:

• 53,000 registered members with 3,000,000 kilometres shared since launch in December 2014
• $280,000 equity crowdfunding campaign in November 2016
• $150,000 angel round in November 2015

About Poparide

Poparide is a technology driven ridesharing platform based in Vancouver, BC, co-founded by Flo Devellennes and Luke Burden. Since launching in 2014 Poparide has helped drivers and passengers share over 3,000,000 kilometres. The company provides an online marketplace where drivers post empty seats for passengers to book, and monetizes by charging a 15% service fee on each booking.

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For more information about Poparide or to arrange a media interview, please contact:

Flo Devellennes, CEO & Co-Founder

Tel: (778) 319 6989

flo@poparide.com