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.
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