Mobility platform Bolt has recently received a €20 million investment from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.
The fresh investment is earmarked to creating earning opportunities and stimulate small-scale entrepreneurship, as well as improve access to transportation in emerging economies, primarily Eastern Europe and Africa.
Bolt entered the African market in 2016 via South Africa, and now counts more than 400,000 drivers in 70 cities across the continent. The IFC investment will further expansion in South Africa, as well as take on Nigeria.
One such example, Bolt is piloting a ‘Women Only’ ride-hailing service in South Africa and connects female passengers with female drivers. The IFC investment will be put towards this plan of empowering women drivers and riders by improving their access to these connections and service.
"We are looking forward to partnering with IFC to further support entrepreneurship, empower women and increase access to affordable mobility services in Africa and Eastern Europe. Together with the investment from the European Investment Bank last year, we are proud to have sizable and strategically important institutions backing us and recognising the strategic value Bolt is providing to emerging economies,” comments Bolt CEO and Founder Markus Villig.
Bolt's series D fundraising round closed in December of last year, taking the company to $592.9 million in total. This additional €20 million will place this well into the more than half a billion territory.
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