A Bolt driver in Krakow, Poland.
Beata Zawrzel | NurPhoto via Getty Images
LONDON – Bolt, a European competitor to the Uber giant, said on Wednesday it had raised € 150 million ($ 182 million) to bolster the security of its platform through facial recognition and artificial intelligence.
The Estonian-based company declined to disclose its valuation, but said it was up from € 1.7 billion ($ 2.1 billion) worth after a € 100 million convertible note issue in May .
Bolt’s latest round of funding was led by D1 Capital Partners, the hedge fund led by US billionaire Daniel Sundheim. Darsana Capital Partners, another hedge fund, also invested.
Bolt said he will use the money to improve its safety features and help it expand electric bicycle and scooter rental and food delivery services. The company’s app now has more than 50 million users in more than 40 countries in Europe and Africa.
“In 2021, we will double to be the industry leader in platform safety and quality,” Markus Villig, CEO of Bolt, said in a statement.
“We plan to launch even more innovative solutions, such as driver face verification and automatic trip monitoring, through machine learning to prevent potential incidents and ensure top quality service for our customers.”
The coronavirus pandemic has severely affected travel services this year, with Uber reporting two consecutive quarters of declining revenue and accumulated losses of $ 5.8 billion during the year.
Demand for vehicle sharing fell off a cliff as consumers were forced to close due to government closure measures. Still, Uber has benefited from increased demand for food delivery services.
Bolt, which has the backing of German carmaker Daimler and Chinese Didi Chuxing, saw similarly its revenues decline as coronavirus restrictions tightened across Europe. In March, the company’s sales fell 75% from the previous month.
But Bolt says it has had a good year thanks to investment in newer product lines, such as scooters and food delivery. The company launched a new electronic scooter model earlier this month and has pledged to invest 100 million euros to launch scooters into more markets.
“Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolt has experienced immense growth over the past year,” Villig said. “We have almost doubled the number of customers and launched our services, from mobility to micromobility and food delivery to 50 new cities.”