Bolt, Uber’s biggest rival in Africa announced earlier this week that it has closed a funding round worth $109 million. The Estonian-based company plans to deploy the funds to help it navigate the harsh market realities poised by COVID-19 across the 150 cities it currently operates in.
The money is coming from a single investor, Naya Capital Management, which was also a major backer of the company in its last round, a $67 million Series C in July 2019. This brings Bolt’s total valuation to nearly $1.9 billion as confirmed by the company.
Bolt wil invest heavily in new verticals including its e-scooter rentals and food delivery operations across Europe and Africa. The CEO Markus Villig affirmed that lockdown measures are only temporary and a long-term share of the pie, across all of these business verticals, is still up for the taking.
Bolt was founded in 2013, originally under the name Taxify, and its existing backers include Daimler and Chinese ride-sharing firm Didi Chuxing.
