Bolt collects 150 million euros for expansion

Not quite as fast as it used to be:

Ex-super sprinter

Usain Bolt,

here in advertising for the launch of Bolt Electric Scooters in Paris last year

Photo: GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS

The Estonian mobility start-up Bolt has raised 150 million euros from investors.

The fresh money will be put into expansion and security measures such as an SOS button for drivers, explained the 26-year-old company boss

Markus Villig

in talks with the Reuters news agency and Techcrunch magazine.

Villig founded the company in 2013 after dropping out of his studies

The aim is to be present in 200 cities in 40 countries in Europe and Africa.

The company, which used to operate under the name Taxify and is now worth billions, competes with Uber in driving services, among others, but also offers e-scooters and entered the food delivery business in 2019.

According to Reuters and Techcrunch, the investment round was led by D1 Capital Partner.

D1 has already invested in some of the largest start-ups this year, such as the US online eyewear retailer Warby Parker, the game engine manufacturer Unity or the car sales portal Cazoo and the fintech TransferWise.

more on the subject

• 250 million dollar round: Softbank invests in Berlin start-up TierBy Christina Kyriasoglou

• Electric scooter supplier Voi: $ 160 million for e-scooter battle in Germany by Jonas Rest

• "If the bubble bursts, many will go bankrupt.": Eat or die: The merciless business of delivery servicesBy Jonas Rest

According to Villig, Bolt has almost doubled its number of customers this year.

The company's valuation should now be around 3.5 billion euros ($ 4.3 billion).

Villig himself did not provide any information, but did not want to deny Techcrunch's calculations.

In May of this year, Bolt was still valued at $ 1.9 billion after raising around $ 100 million.

At that time, Bolt said it had around 30 million users.

Bolt wants to become the largest scooter rental company in Europe and, according to Techcrunch, has a total of 50 million customers who use the wide range of the mobility service provider.

According to the company's founder, the largest markets include Great Britain, France, South Africa and Nigeria.

Bolt already has more than 50 million customers

Bolt apparently expects particularly strong growth in the highly competitive market for food deliveries, which is currently characterized by consolidation.

Bolt Food is currently delivering in 16 countries and 33 cities and wants to expand the range in the coming year.

Dun Sundheim from D1 Capital Partners seems to be convinced of his latest investment.

They are "enthusiastic" about the collaboration with Bolt and the plan to "build a market-leading mobility platform in Europe and Africa".

Capital Partners is extremely optimistic about the growth opportunities for Bolt after the corona pandemic, Techcrunch quotes the investor.

A lot of fresh money is currently flowing into the industry, which is benefiting from the Corona crisis and the trend towards private transport.

It was only in November that the Berlin e-scooter startup Tier Mobility collected 250 million dollars and brought the well-known technology investor Softbank on board.

At the beginning of December, the Swedish competitor and electric scooter supplier Voi collected 160 million dollars for expansion in Germany and other countries.

rei