Taxi hailing firm Bolt has secured a Ksh. 5.6 Billion loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) which it intends to invest in research and development.
The firm has indicated that it will also use the funds to launch more products in the market which includes mobility services such as food delivery. They also have plans to enter into the mass transport business.
Martin Villig, Bolt’s co-founder, had this to say, “Mobility is one of the areas we will continue to grow and innovate for the benefit of our customers. We will invest in improving and expanding our ride-hailing technology as well as personalised mobility services like food delivery.”
The company was founded by Markus Villig and it launched in 2013. It has operations in Europe and Africa and its investors include Daimler, Didi Chuxing, Korelya Capital and TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus. It launched in Kenya in the beginning of 2017 and operates in Nairobi and Mombasa. It has 25 million customers in over 30 countries.