The €628 million investment round 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, and takes Bolt’s valuation to €7.4 billion.
Markus Villig, Founder and CEO at Bolt, said, “For decades,
cities have been built for cars, not people.
That has led to unsustainable traffic, pollution, and loss
of public space to parking places. We think this approach is outdated.
“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.”
Femi Akin-Laguda, Country Manager, Bolt Nigeria also added,
“Bolt is redefining urban mobility by helping people move seamlessly and
helping the environment and the cities grow sustainably.
We plan to continue expanding our services in Nigeria and
offer a better alternative to move around cities and towns and receive their
food. Bolt is an innovative company and with the investment the mission is to
ease mobility for every Nigerian.”
Last month, Bolt announced a range of new safety features to
be incorporated on its scooter-sharing network, the largest in Europe,
demonstrating 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, which are currently used by more than 100 million
customers in 45 countries and over 400 cities across Europe and Africa.
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.
In August 2021, Bolt raised €600 million in a funding round
backed by Sequoia Capital and other investors to boost its new 15-minute
grocery delivery service and to accelerate the expansion of its existing
mobility and delivery products.
With this new investment Bolt will accelerate its expansion
rapidly in 2022 and plans to have hundreds of stores operational by the end of
the year.
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