Bolt (company)

Bolt is an Estonian mobility company that offers vehicle for hire, micromobility, car-sharing, and food delivery services headquartered in Tallinn and operating in over 500 cities in more than 45 countries[2][3] in Europe, Africa, Western Asia and Latin America. The company has more than 100 million customers globally [3] and more than 3 million partners use Bolt's platforms to offer rides and deliveries to customers.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Bolt
FormerlymTakso, Taxify
Industry
FoundedAugust 2013 (2013-08)
FounderMarkus Villig
HeadquartersTallinn, Estonia
Area served
45 countries in Europe, Africa, Western Asia, Asia and Latin America
ProductsMobile app, website
ServicesTransportation network company, scooter-sharing system, food delivery, grocery delivery, car-sharing
Revenue over €500 million (2021)[1]
Websitebolt.eu

History

Bolt (then Taxify) was founded in 2013 by Markus Villig, a 19 year-old high-school student, to aggregate all Tallinn and Riga taxis into one platform. He developed the first version of the mobile app with €5,000 borrowed from his parents.[13] The service was launched in Tallinn, Estonia in August 2013 and by 2014 it was operating abroad.[14]

Availability of Bolt, as of May 2022:
  Available
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Markus Villig, Founder & CEO, Bolt on Centre Stage during day three of Web Summit 2021 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

In 2017, Bolt launched its services in London by acquiring a local taxi company with a licence to operate, but was forced by Transport for London to shut down its services.[15][16] The company has filed a new licence application[17] and relaunched in London in June 2019.[18]

Following the setback in London, Bolt launched its services in Paris and Lisbon.[19][20]

In September 2018, the company announced expanding into dockless electric kick scooters and launched them in Paris.[21] The company also said it planned to release these scooters in several other European and Australian cities where the app was already established, but would also launch in new markets where vehicle for hire services face significant regulatory roadblocks, including Germany and Spain.[22]

In June 2019, Bolt re-launched in London with 20,000 drivers registered on the platform.[23]

In August 2019, the company rolled out its food delivery service, Bolt Food. Bolt Food launched in Tallinn, with the plans to expand to more cities in Europe and Africa later this year.[24]

In September 2019, Bolt announced its "Green Plan", an initiative to reduce the ecological footprint of the transportation industry and Bolt as a company. The Green Plan goals include offsetting Bolt's contribution to the CO₂ emissions of the European transportation sector by at least 5 million tonnes by 2025 and adding more green ride-types for passengers to choose from.[25]

In March 2019, and in 2020, Bolt was ranked third in the FT 1000: Europe's Fastest Growing Companies published by the Financial Times.[26][27]

In May 2021, Bolt launched a car-sharing service, Bolt Drive.[28]

A Bolt Scooter parked in Halle (Saale), Germany.

On 22 June 2021, the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) in the UK called a 24-hour strike and staged a protest against Bolt at the company's West London offices. The union demanded that Bolt also observe the recent UK Supreme Court ruling against Uber and treat its drivers as workers with the right to the UK national minimum wage and holiday pay. ADCU London President Abdurzak Hadi said: “Bolt can no longer just bury its head in the sand and pretend that their drivers and our members are not entitled to the same rights as Uber drivers. This strike and protest is Bolt’s last chance to do the right thing, obey the law and respect their drivers." The union threatened legal action on worker rights if Bolt did not comply with its demands, that also included, that Bolt should increase its fares to £2 per mile, and end all unfair driver dismissals.[29]

Financing

Prior to announcing a strategic partnership with Didi Chuxing, Bolt had raised over €2 million in investment capital from Estonian and Finnish angel investors.[30] In August 2017, Didi Chuxing invested an undisclosed amount believed to be an "eight-figure U.S. dollar sum".[31] A May 2018 funding round with a $175 million investment from Daimler, Didi and others led to a 1 billion dollar valuation for the company, making it a unicorn.[32]

In January 2020, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a EUR 50 million venture debt facility with Bolt. The financing, supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), is to boost Bolt's product development in areas where technology can improve the safety, reliability and sustainability of its services. This includes investment in existing services such as vehicle for hire and food delivery, as well as the development of new products.[33]

In December 2020, Bolt raised €150 million from venture capital funds.[2][34]

In March 2021, Bolt raised €20 million from IFC, a World Bank Group member, for further expansion in emerging markets.[35] The company was valued at more than €2 billion after this fund raising round.[36]

In August 2021, Bolt raised €600 million from Sequoia Capital increasing the valuation of the company to over €4 billion.[37]

In January 2022, Bolt raised €628 million from investors led by Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management and Research Co, taking the company's valuation to €7.4 billion.[38]

Self-driving technology research

In August 2019, Bolt and the University of Tartu announced their partnership[39] on an applied research project to develop self-driving technology for a Level 4 autonomous car. The joint-research programme set a goal for integrating autonomous vehicles (AVs) on Bolt's transportation app by 2026.

In April 2021, Bolt and the University of Tartu agreed to expand their cooperation on the AV project,[40] signing a new 5-year agreement designed to further develop the technical capabilities of the university's autonomous driving lab in the areas of artificial intelligence and maps and algorithms to create better conditions for connecting technology to urban traffic infrastructures.

Criticism

Some drivers have issues with the company related to safety and remuneration; in early 2020 they staged a demonstration by blocking Bolt offices in South Africa.[41]

In late February 2022, Bolt, alongside Uber, announced plans to distance themselves from the Russian companies they are associated with, and Bolt announced that they have stopped selling products produced in or by Russian companies. Bolt also pledged to keep its services running in Ukraine during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War.[42]

References
  1. "Markus Villig: Bolt has become one of the largest companies in Europe". Retrieved 2022-01-15.
  2. Browne, Ryan (2021-08-02). "Bolt valued at $4.75 billion as Uber rival aims to push into on-demand grocery delivery". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  3. "Bolt raises $709M at an $8.4B valuation to expand its transportation and food delivery super app". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  4. "Bolt | Press Centre | Press Enquiries". Bolt. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  5. "Taxify rebrands as Bolt to expand its transport options beyond private cars". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  6. "New Ride-Hailing App Taxify to Launch in Egypt and Compete with Uber, Careem, and Ousta". Cairo Scene. Archived from the original on 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  7. ERR (2017-04-12). "Estonian taxi-hailing app Taxify expands to Baku, Malta". ERR. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  8. ERR (2017-10-05). "Estonia's Taxify expands ride-hailing platform to Paris". ERR. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  9. Taxify (2018-04-27). "Taxify Hits 10M Users Globally". Taxify. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  10. Almeida, Goncalo. "Taxify aims for 10-fold Africa growth, to overtake Uber in Europe". U.S. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  11. "Press corner". European Commission – European Commission. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  12. "Bolt | Press Centre | Press Enquiries". bolt.eu. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  13. Bernal, Natasha (2020-02-24). "How Bolt bounced back from a spectacular public London failure". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  14. Treija, Ieva. "Taxi startup forces countries to change Transport Law by offering new business model | EU-Startups". www.eu-startups.com. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  15. "Taxify launches in London, acquiring a cab firm to scale and discounting prices – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  16. "Uber-Rival Taxify Suspended in London Amid License Investigation". Bloomberg.com. 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  17. Titcomb, James (2018-02-24). "Uber rival Taxify plots London comeback". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  18. Schulze, Elizabeth (2019-06-11). "Uber's European rival Bolt launches in London". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  19. Auchard, Eric. "After London setback, Taxify trails Uber into Paris market". U.S. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  20. Barber, Lynsey (2018-01-11). "Uber rival Taxify launches in Lisbon as London wait continues". Archived from the original on 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  21. "The scooter war explodes in Europe as Taxify brings dockless scooters to Paris". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  22. "Taxify is entering the e-scooter game". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  23. Schulze, Elizabeth (2019-06-11). "Uber's European rival Bolt launches in London". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  24. Schulze, Elizabeth (2019-08-21). "Uber rival Bolt launches food delivery service in Europe". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  25. "Bolt launches environmental impact fund in UK".
  26. "The FT 1000: third annual list of Europe's fastest-growing companies | Financial Times". 2019-03-31. Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  27. "FT 1000: the fourth annual list of Europe's fastest-growing companies". www.ft.com. 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  28. Keane, Jonathan. "On-Demand Mobility Player Bolt Enters The Car-Sharing Market". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  29. "Bolt drivers strike over workers rights snub".
  30. "The Estonian taxibooking app Taxify raises $100K". Estonian World. 2014-04-28. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  31. Russell, Jon. "China's Didi invests in Taxify, an Uber rival operating in Europe and Africa". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  32. Nair, Dinesh. "Uber's European Rival Taxify Wins Unicorn Status Raising Funds". MSN Money. Archived from the original on 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  33. "European Investment Bank backs Uber rival Bolt with €50m".
  34. Keane, Jonathan. "Bolt Raises €600 Million To Build The European 'Super App'". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  35. Keane, Jonathan. "Bolt Lands €20 Million From The World Bank's IFC For Emerging Market Push". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  36. "Uber Rival Bolt Adds Car-Sharing Service as Next Expansion Path". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  37. "Bolt raises EUR600m from investors including Sequoia". www.privateequitywire.co.uk. 2021-08-02. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  38. Mukherjee, Supantha (2022-01-11). "Uber rival Bolt raises $711 mln at valuation of over $8 bln". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  39. ERR, ERR News | (2019-08-29). "Bolt teams up with University of Tartu to launch self-driving tech research". ERR. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  40. Hankewitz, Sten (2021-04-22). "The University of Tartu and an Estonian rideshare company collaborate in self-driving vehicle development". Estonian World. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  41. ""PROTESTING UBER, BOLT DRIVERS WANT DEPT'S INTERVENTION OVER PAY, SAFETY ISSUES"".
  42. "Uber, Bolt to cut ties with Russian companies". POLITICO. 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
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