Bolt, the ride-hailing company, has received a EUR 50 million (Ksh5.5 billion) venture debt facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support its research and development strategies.
The funds will go into improving safety, reliability, and sustainability of Bolts’ services while maintaining high efficiency of its operations. This includes investments in existing services like ride-hailing as well as personalised mobility services like food delivery.
“Mobility is one of the areas we will continue to grow and innovate for the benefit of our customers,” said Mr Martin Villig, Bolt’s co-founder. “We will invest in improving and expanding our ride-hailing technology as well as personalised mobility services like food delivery. …this enables us to move faster towards serving many more people in Europe and across the world.”
Bolt’s research and development strategy is focused on creating innovative and safe services that will enhance urban mobility and provide viable economic opportunities across the world, Mr Villig said.
“As you say, to stand still is to go backwards, and Bolt is never standing still. The Bank is very happy to support the company in improving its services, as well as allowing it to branch out into new service fields. In other words, we’re fully on board,” sand Mr Alexander Stubb, EIB’s Vice President.
The company pioneered safety initiatives in the industry, providing features such as the SOS button, which links drivers on Bolt trips with medical and/or security emergency response team(s) at the tap of a button.
In addition, the “Share your ETA” feature allows consumers to share their live trip details with loved ones.
