Transportation startup Bolt closes €150M funding round

Estonia-based on-demand transportation platform Bolt has raised €150 million, led by D1 Capital Partners with participation from Darsana Capital Partners.

The company, previously known as Taxify, launched in 2013 and now has more than 50 million customers in 40 countries. 

Bolt provides ride-hailing, scooter-sharing and food-delivery services. The company says this funding – its largest round to date – will be used to “further enhance the safety and quality of our products and services.”

“Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolt has seen immense growth in the past year. We have almost doubled our number of customers and launched our services from ride-hailing to micro-mobility and food delivery in 50 new cities,” says Markus Villig, founder and CEO of Bolt.

“Millions of customers already love Bolt for our affordable prices and fast service. In 2021, we are doubling down to be the industry leader in safety and quality of the platform. We’re planning to launch even more innovative solutions like driver face verification and automatic trip monitoring, using machine learning to prevent potential incidents and ensure the highest quality service for our customers.”

Earlier this month, Bolt unveiled its newest scooter, developed in-house with safety features such as sensors to detect accidents, falls and unsafe riding patterns that trigger audio and visual warnings for riders and automatically notify Bolt’s operations team.