Chalfont Coaches, Cogenhoe

16/02/2026

16/02/2026

From ten years ago.

08/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14L6WmHjD7t/

From a “stupid” idea to a €2 billion business.
When three German friends—Jochen Engert, André Schwämmlein, and Daniel Krauss—pitched the idea of running a nationwide coach service without owning a single bus, people laughed. Even their own families doubted them.

But they weren’t trying to build a traditional bus company. They built a platform: independent bus operators would drive, and FlixBus would handle tech, pricing, marketing, and that bright green brand.

They launched in 2013 with just a few routes from Munich. The market was chaos—cheap fares, brutal competition, rivals popping up everywhere. Many thought FlixBus would burn out. Instead, they merged with Berlin’s MeinFernbus in 2015, pooled routes, and went on a rapid expansion across Europe.

By 2018 they were testing electric coaches, by 2018 they had entered the USA, and in 2021 they shocked the industry by buying Greyhound—the iconic American bus company.

Today, their parent company Flix SE reports revenues above €2 billion, and the three founders are multimillionaires.

💡 The lesson? Sometimes the ideas that sound dumb—the ones everyone hates—are the ones that rewrite the rules.