Bolt, an on-demand mobility platform, has raised Ksh. 78 billion funding to accelerate the expansion of its existing mobility and delivery products across its African and European markets.
The funds were raised from new investors including Sequoia, Tekne and Ghisallo, as well as Bolt’s existing investors G Squared, D1 Capital and Naya.
According to Bolt, the funds will go into expanding the company’s network of ride-hailing services, food delivery and micro mobility in Africa and Europe. These include investments towards enhancing safety features on the platform for drivers and riders, deepening vehicle ownership initiatives, driver and courier empowerment and sustainability projects.
Commenting on the latest funding, Kenneth Micah, East Africa Regional Manager at Bolt said, “We continue to invest in products and services that improve the lives of our customers across the globe. We also continue to proactively add more shared and electric vehicles on our platform. We believe that the future of urban transport is a network of on-demand services including ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery.”
On his part, Markus Villig, CEO at Bolt, said, “Cars are responsible for 90% of issues in urban transport, including pollution, congestion, accidents, and the parking lots taking up city space. Bolt’s mission is to motivate people to give up their private car by offering them more affordable and sustainable alternatives. With our wide range of mobility and delivery services, we provide a better solution to almost every use-case and distance. I’m thrilled to bring our products to millions of customers in Europe and Africa, helping take cities back from cars to people.”
In the past 12 months, Bolt has Bolt has grown to 75 million customers globally. In addition to its core ride-hailing product, Bolt offers a car-sharing service, Bolt Drive, and scooter and e-bike sharing. The company’s delivery services in Africa is Bolt Food, an app that enables customers to order meals from restaurants.