Global ride-hailing Startup, Bolt has raised its biggest funding till date, $712 million dollars (€628m) to aid the company’s expansion goals in 2022.
The investment round was led by Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC with participation from Whale Rock, Owl Rock, D1, G Squared, Tekne, Ghisallo and others— bringing the company’s total valuation to $8.3 billion.
According to the transport-tech company, Bolt, the series E funding round will be utilized in stretching into new areas and bringing more customers and partners to its “super app”.
Markus Villig, Bolt’s chief executive officer and founder, said
” The business is open for partnership and looking at growing bigger”
All of our business units are growing. Bolt is working on partnering with more city governments to build our services as part of the updated transportation strategies,” Villig said.
Also Speaking on the investment, Andrew Reed, a partner at Sequoia mentioned their excitement at the investment and Bolt’s growth as an inspiration.
“We’re excited to deepen our partnership with Markus and Bolt to further their mission to make urban travel affordable, sustainable and safe.
We’re eager to help them expand their footprint, increase their product offering and improve the quality of life in cities for the long term”
What you should know about Bolt
Bolt is a transportation app used for requesting a fast and affordable ride. With a tap a button, you can order a ride, get picked up by a nearby driver, and enjoy a low-cost ride to your destination.
The Estonian based mobility company, formerly known as Taxify, was founded by Markus Villig on August 3rd 2013 as a ride-hailing company. It has expanded across Europe and Africa and has evolved into courier, car-sharing and food delivery services, all through its “super app”.
Bolt’s mission is to bring fast, reliable and affordable transportation to millions of people around the world, while also helping thousands of drivers support their families. The mission seems great but Bolt has bigger competition to contend with in the ride-hailing sector.
For now it is the biggest rival to Uber that boasts of more than half a billion downloads on Google play store alone, Villig said they are focused on becoming better, giving rewarding commissions to their drivers and offering eye-catching discounts to customers.
“There is a massive lack of supply on these platforms, so we have focused on taking the most partner-friendly lowest commission. That has paid off well for Bolt, which has now seen monthly revenues more than double compared to sales pre-Covid,” Villig added.
“But we have made attracting and keeping drivers a major focus by paying out better commissions than our rivals and will pay between 10% and 20% better than competitors.
We have been offering substantially lower prices than anybody else in the industry… we expect this to continue.”
Bolt in Nigeria
Bolt became active in Nigeria and was fully launched in 2016. Focusing on affordability and access, a mission which at the time was successful and helped it’s carved a big niche in the Nigerian market.
Bolt Nigeria’s Operations started in Lagos and have since expanded to about 26 other states including Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Uyo, Calabar, Kano, Abeokuta, Enugu, Ibadan and Benin City.
Although Bolt’s operation in Nigeria has not exactly been a smooth one, the company has faced many unpleasant allegations from customers and controversies with Bolt drivers.
In Conclusion, You can,
• Get a comfortable, low-cost ride on the app
• Fast arrival times, 24/7.
• See the price of your ride before you order.
• Use a range of safety features, e.g. share details of your journey.
• You can pay inside the app (Credit/Debit) or with cash.
According to Bolt, the mobility company has more than 100 million customers in 45 countries and over 400 cities using its services.
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