Tallinn’s Bolt raises €628M at €7.4B valuation to accelerate the transition from owned cars to shared mobility

Estonia-based Bolt, a transportation platform providing ride-hailing, micromobility, and food delivery services, announced on Tuesday that it raised €628M in a fresh round of funding at a valuation of €7.4B. The startup reports this as one of its largest-ever funding rounds.

The investment was led by Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC with participation from Whale Rock, Owl Rock (a division of Blue Owl), D1, G Squared, Tekne, Ghisallo, and others.

Capital utilisation

The proceeds from this round will help Bolt to further scale its existing products and accelerate the transition from owned cars to shared mobility in cities.

Markus Villig, founder and CEO of Bolt, says, “Over the past eight years we have developed products that offer better and more affordable alternatives for almost every purpose a private car serves. We’re partnering with cities to help people make the switch towards light vehicles such as scooters and e-bikes and shared mobility options like ride-hailing and car-sharing to transform urban areas back into sustainable, people-friendly spaces.”

“That’s why we’re pleased to announce this new round of funding – the biggest in our history – which will help us build a future in which cities have less congestion, less pollution and more green spaces where people can easily move around in a safe and sustainable way,” adds Villig.

Bolt Market, one of the company’s newest products, was developed and launched during the pandemic which currently operates dozens of stores in ten countries across Europe. With this funding, Bolt will accelerate its expansion rapidly in 2022 and also has plans to have hundreds of stores operational by the end of the year.

Affordable and sustainable mobility

Bolt was founded in 2013 by Markus Villig, Martin Villig, and Oliver Leisalu. Previously known as Taxify, Bolt is a transportation platform that provides ride-hailing, micromobility, package delivery, and scooter-sharing services.

The company aims to make urban travel easier, quicker, and more reliable. It has more than 100 million users in 45 countries and over 400 cities across Europe and Africa. The company claims that all Bolt 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 month, Bolt announced a range of new safety features for its scooter-sharing network, to demonstrate how the company is a reliable partner for cities. These features include a tandem riding prevention system, which can detect more than one person riding a scooter at the same time, a cognitive reaction test to ensure riders stay as safe as possible, and a skid prevention system meaning scooters are only used in a safe and responsible manner.

Scooter-sharing is just one part of Bolt’s suite of mobility and delivery products. Other products also include its ride-hailing service; car-sharing service Bolt Drive; Bolt Food, which enables customers to order meals from restaurants; and Bolt Market, a 15-minute grocery delivery service.

Prior to this, in August 2021, the company had raised €600M in a funding round, at a valuation of more than €4B, to take on the fiercely competitive grocery delivery sector.