One of Africa’s leading mobility platforms Bolt, has secured €628 million investment round to expand its operations.
The facility was its largest ever funding round which is meant to scale its existing produce and hasten the transition from owned cars to shared mobility in cities.
The investment 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 euro.
Founder and CEO at Bolt, Markus Villig, 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 We think this approach is outdated”.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”.
Villig said the company was partnering with cities to help people make adjustments towards making use of 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.”
Country Manager, Bolt Nigeria. Femi Akin-Laguda, said Bolt is making a new meaning to urban mobility by helping people move with ease 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,” he said.
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.
