Bolt closes EUR 600m funding round

Greg Gille
03 August 2021

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Bolt, an Estonian smartphone application provider for online car booking services and food delivery, has closed a EUR 600m funding round from investors including Sequoia, Tekne, Ghisallo, G Squared, D1 Capital and Naya.

The financing round increases the company's valuation to more than EUR 4bn.

Proceeds will be used to boost Bolt's new grocery delivery service Bolt Market, and accelerate expansion of existing mobility and delivery products, the firm said in a statement.

Mega-rounds have fuelled a record first half for venture and growth capital investment in Europe, as reported by Unquote. Europe was home to a record EUR 38bn's worth of venture and growth capital investment in the first half of 2021, shattering previous records. Unquote recorded no fewer than 45 rounds of EUR 200m and above in H1 2021 alone, against 22 and 26 over the whole of 2020 and 2019, respectively.

The largest rounds inked in the first six months of 2021 include Germany-based mobile-only broker Trade Republic raising a EUR 700m Series C funding round giving the company a valuation of USD 5.3bn (EUR 4.3bn); Blackstone Growth leading a $800m (€665m) Series C for Netherlands-based e-payments software firm Mollie at a valuation of USD 6.5bn (EUR 5.4bn); SoftBank leading a USD 639m funding round for Sweden-based Klarna, valuing the fintech business at USD 45.6bn; and Getir, the Turkey-based developer of a mobile app that provides delivery services for groceries, raising USD 550m in a Series D funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.

Previous funding
In 2014, TMT Investments and Rubylight provided funding of EUR 1.4m for Bolt.

In May 2018, German automotive firm Daimler, Korelya Capital, Chinese ride-sharing app Did Chuxing and Transferwise founder Taavet Hinrikus completed a USD 175m funding round for the company.

Bolt raised USD 67m in a Series C in July 2019. The backers included Nordic Ninja, Naya Capital, Creandum, G Squared, Invenfin and Superangel.

In late 2020, D1 Capital Partners led a EUR 150m round for Bolt, alongside investment fund Darsana.

Company
Founded in 2013 and based in Tallinn, Bolt is ride-hailing platform. It has more recently expanded its offering to encompass a car-sharing service, Bolt Drive, and scooter and e-bike sharing. Its delivery services include Bolt Food, which enables customers to order meals from restaurants, and a grocery delivery service, Bolt Market.

People
Bolt - Markus Villig (CEO).