Tallinn-based Bolt, a transportation platform providing ride-hailing, micromobility, and food delivery services in Europe, announced that it has acquired Danish taxi startup Viggo for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2019, Viggo is electrifying urban mobility with ultra-fast EV chargers and EV-based ride-hailing.
The company has 300 electric cars and 450,000 users in Copenhagen and Aarhus.
The acquisition allows Bolt to enter the Danish ride-hailing market for the first time, although it already has an e-bike rental service in Copenhagen.
“We have always had a high bar for M&A, but we share Viggo’s mission to improve cities and were impressed by their fully electric operations. The acquisition means we will become the largest ride-hailing operator in Denmark,” Bolt founder and CEO Markus Villig told Sifted,
Bolt also announced a new partnership with another Danish taxi company, Taxi 4×27, to make available the company’s fleet of over 600 vehicles on its platform.
The announcement comes a year after raising €220M syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF).
Bolt: Offering diverse on-demand options
Founded by Markus Villig, Martin Villig, and Oliver Leisalu, in 2014, Bolt (previously known as mTakso) is a global transportation app that offers on-demand services for various purposes, including taxis, shared vehicles, e-bikes, e-scooters, and food and grocery delivery.
Currently, the company’s products include:
- Bolt Rides
- Bolt Scooters and E-bikes
- Bolt Food, delivers ready-made meals from restaurants
- Bolt Market, a grocery delivery service
- Bolt Drive, free-floating car-sharing service
- Bolt Business, a corporate mobility service
The Bolt app offers low-cost rides, fast arrival times, transparent pricing, and in-app payments to enable seamless transactions using various payment methods, such as credit/debit cards or Apple Pay.
The mobility platform claims that all its rides in Europe are 100 per cent carbon-neutral as part of its Green Plan, a long-term commitment to reduce the ecological footprint of the company.
Last year, the company also introduced its new in-house scooter model Bolt 6, equipped with various sensors and microprocessors, data mining capabilities, and precision technologies, setting benchmarks for safety, sustainability, and user experience.
01
From Mexico City to Rotterdam: How the Dutch Startup Visa launched Estefania Hernandez’s HR tech revolution