---

Brought to you by RivalSense - an AI tool for monitoring any company.

RivalSense tracks the most important product launches, fundraising news, partnerships, hiring activities, pricing changes, tech news, vendors, corporate filings, media mentions, and other developments of companies you're following 💡

---

Bolt

🌎 bolt.eu

Bolt is an Estonian mobility company that offers ride-hailing, micromobility rental, food and grocery delivery, and carsharing services. They are focused on building a future where people don’t need to own personal cars to move around safely and conveniently, providing transport on demand with various vehicle options.

---

Updates as of Sep 10, 2024

• Bolt has rebranded its environmental initiatives from 'Green Plan' to 'Sustainability at Bolt' and introduced 'Project Zero'.
• Bertrand Russell accused Bolt and Wolt of forming a cartel and exploiting restaurants, drivers, and consumers.
• Over 12,500 Bolt drivers are taking their fight for worker status to the Employment Tribunal starting September 11, seeking compensation for unpaid holiday and wage shortfalls.
• Bolt launched its courier delivery service, Bolt Send, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to support local businesses and enhance logistics.
• Bolt recently introduced a flexible pricing model allowing passengers to offer higher fares during peak times.

• Bolt Food has expanded into grocery delivery in Ghana, marking its fourth anniversary with plans to offer 24-hour service and expand beyond Accra, according to General Manager Ali Zaryab.
• Bolt increased its commission from 18% to 21%.
• Bolt launched Bolt Corporate Services to streamline transportation for organizations with security features and flexible post-payment terms.
• Yuliia Malich, Head of Public Policy at Bolt, announced a collaboration with Ukraine's Ministry of Finance to align the country's digital platform regulations with EU standards.
• Bolt has nearly as many ride-hailing licenses in Malaga province as traditional taxis.
• On September 2, 2024, Bolt launched a new feature for user identity verification in Thailand to enhance safety.
• Bolt now offers electric car rides in Warsaw for eco-friendly travel.
• Bolt integrated Bolt Food with Order with Google to simplify food ordering.
• Bolt reintroduced car loans in Kenya to address drivers' demands for higher base fares.
• Bolt has started recruiting drivers in Malaysia and set up a local landing page, indicating its imminent launch in the Klang Valley.
• Bolt has expanded its operations to South America and Angola, including the city of Luanda.
• Bolt contacted Jesus Fraile Ardanuy and his friend following a Twitter post to investigate an issue.
• Bolt announces a 10% fare increase effective 26 August 2024 to address driver earnings and operational costs.
• Bolt and its CEO Markus Villig allow drivers to prohibit passengers from speaking certain languages and do nothing to combat open racism among employees.
• Alex Zakharov called for Bolt to be expelled from Nigeria and South Africa for allegedly supporting Nazi and racist regimes.
• A Bolt staff member was accused of taking money from previous customers and only refunding 40,000 blaming company policy and personal circumstances.
• Bolt has expanded its services to 18 cities across Azerbaijan.
• South African citizens have petitioned the Ministry of Transport to review Bolt's operation licenses due to concerns over its rapid expansion.
• Bolt plans to launch in Kazakhstan, as announced by Transport Minister Marat Karabayev on 21 August 2024.
• Bolt has introduced self-defence and anti-hijacking training sessions for its female driver-partners in Johannesburg.
• Bolt Thailand introduced a feature allowing users to choose female drivers.
• Bolt launched its electric scooters in the streets of Tbilisi.
• Bolt showed drivers the total amount without a discount when accepting a trip and the amount the customer should pay when dropping off, with Bolt covering the outstanding amount.
• Bolt Business launched electric vehicle categories in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam to reduce carbon emissions.
• Bolt launched Ireland's first shared e-scooter scheme in Wexford with 50 e-scooters and plans to add 50 more.
• In August 2024, a Bolt motorcycle rider in Pattaya was arrested for raping an 18-year-old passenger while drunk.
• Bolt launched Bolt Dine-in, allowing customers to place orders via the Bolt Food App while sitting at a restaurant table.
• Bolt now offers a sign-up option specifically for London Hackney Carriage drivers under Bolt Black Cab.
• Bolt found a strong foothold in the U.K. ride-hailing market, driven by the trend towards ride-sharing and multi-modal transport integration.
• Bolt will face a court hearing on October 16, 2024, regarding the refusal to provide public information.
• Fixing Africa accused Bolt and Smart Ops of unethical conduct, including unauthorized car rental fee deductions and altering driver profiles.
• The Berlin Senate plans to introduce minimum fares for ride-hailing services like Bolt, potentially increasing prices.
• Bolt implemented Passenger Facial Verification in Paraguay to enhance driver safety, offering a discount on two trips for verified users.
• Luke Mason has started as Global Head of Executive Talent Acquisition at Bolt.
• Bolt's CEO Markus Villig worked as a delivery courier for a day to gain firsthand experience of the company's services.
• Bolt CEO Justin Grooms stated that department stores are making a comeback.
• Bolt offers free first rides on scooters in Augsburg, announced by Fleet Operations Lead Esad Özkara.
• Bolt is celebrating 5 years of Bolt Food and expanding its courier network in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
• Bolt now operates in over 65 cities in Poland.
• Bolt is celebrating its 11th birthday with support from Wise.
• Bolt’s UK wing turned a £47 million pre-tax loss in 2022 into nearly £8.3 million in pre-tax profit in 2023.
• Bolt transitioned from Neo4J to Redis Cluster for their user graph, leveraging their extensive expertise in Redis for better horizontal scalability.
• Bolt introduced Bolt Pet in the UK to facilitate seamless travel for passengers with pets.
• Bolt now includes insurance coverage as part of their safety features, which vary by country.
• Bolt halts inter-country trip requests in South Africa, according to Simo Kalajdzic, Senior Operations Manager.
• Bolt's Cloud Security Team Lead, Kadir Burak Mavzer, announced that users can now expand Algiz's detection engine with custom detectors.
• Bolt stopped inter-country requests between Nigeria and South Africa to mitigate financial losses from prank orders.
• Bolt has started deploying 400 e-scooters and 50 e-bikes for rental in Charleroi, replacing Tier Mobility.
• Bolt is working on expanding its services to Osun.
• On 21 August 2024, Bolt suspended inter-country ride requests between South Africa and Nigeria due to a surge in hoax bookings causing fare increases.
• Bolt faced coordinated disruptions in Nigeria and South Africa, leading to design flaws in inter-country ride-hailing requests.
• Bolt may implement a policy requiring real-time location verification to restrict users from ordering rides in a different country unless they are physically present.
• Bolt is expanding its presence in Germany by identifying and launching new cities while ensuring collaboration between local operations and HQ teams.
• Bolt celebrated its 11th anniversary and announced a two-day Summer Summit event.
• Bolt expanded to Morogoro, offering a 50% discount to incentivize passengers and signed up local drivers to the platform.
• Bolt unveiled a speech-to-text feature for its driver app to improve communication and safety.
• Kaie Peetre left Bolt as Global Head of Compensation and Benefits in Estonia to join Wolt as Director of Compensation starting August 2024.

---

Did you find it useful?

If you liked this report, consider following your own companies of interest. Receive weekly insights directly to your inbox using RivalSense.