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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 10:31

Estonia: Bolt planning to go public in 3-5 years

BC, Tallinn, 23.04.2019.Print version
Just like its US rivals Lyft and Uber, the ride-hailing platform Bolt is planning to go public in three to five years, the company's CEO Markus Villig told the New York Times, citing LETA/BNS.

Although Bolt is not profitable as a result of the costs entailed in entry into new markets and offering of incentives to drivers and customers, the Estonia based platform is losing less money than Uber and Lyft, Villig said. For every 10 dollars it makes in fares, Bolt loses about one dollar because of the cost of expanding to new markets and offering incentives to riders and drivers, he explained.


But that is less than Uber and Lyft, Villig added. He said Bolt was on a pace to have more than a billion US dollars in total bookings this year and could break even if it slowed down its expansion plans. He hopes to take the company public in three to five years.


Bolt is now planning to confront Uber in one of its most lucrative cities: London. The smaller firm is reapplying for a taxi license to operate in the British capital after regulators there rebuffed it in 2017. A prolonged battle in London, which is Uber's biggest market in Europe and one of the few places it has been profitable, could be financially bruising, the New York Times said.


In September 2017, Bolt, then operating under the name Taxify, launched its service in London only to see the city's transport authority revoke the license of the company City Drive Services it had acquired.


Founded by Villig, then 19, in 2013, Bolt has since turned into an unexpected success story by becoming Uber's most formidable challenger in Europe and Africa, the New York Times said.


The Bolt platform at present offers car-based and motorcycle-based rides as well as an electric scooter rental service. It 25 mln users in 30 countries and employs a workforce of 850 people, more than 250 of whom work at the head office in Tallinn.


In May 2018, the company brought in 175 mln US dollars from Daimler, Didi Chuxing and others. The financing brought the company to the one billion dollar valuation mark, where it joined fellow ride-hailing giants Lyft, Uber, Careem and more.






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