Since its launch 10 years ago, Estonian mobility platform Bolt has lived up to its name. From its genesis as a ride-hailing service, it has rapidly expanded to offer scooter rentals, food and grocery delivery, and carsharing. It claims to be Europe’s first mobility super-app, was valued at €7.4bn at its latest fundraising, and has made multiple appearances on the Financial Times’s annual list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. 

Powered by its vision of a future without personal cars — and the pollution and congestion they create — Bolt now operates in 48 countries across its home region, plus Africa, Latin America and Asia. “In some markets with strategic enablers, ride-hailing really catches on — like in Thailand, where we launched in 2020 and are now competing head-to-head with Grab, who has been there for a decade,” says Aastha Yadav, Bolt’s head of strategy. But she concedes that uptake can be slower in other countries, like El Salvador where “the business is in hibernation”.

In choosing where to invest next, she says Bolt’s decisions are driven by two considerations. First is its ability to win the market, given existing competition and whether it has a foothold through its other mobility services. Second is the market’s attractiveness, which includes its size, Bolt’s local growth expectations and, in the case of scooters and carsharing, access to capital. “With rentals we’re debt-financed so it helps to find local capital to acquire the vehicles,” she says.

Taking on taxis

Another major factor impacting a market’s attractiveness is its regulations. Ride-hailing’s use of dynamic pricing, whereby the price is determined by matching supply with demand, has sparked pushback from taxi drivers who claim they are unfairly undercut by the likes of Bolt. As a result, some local governments have banned such companies from operating.

“Some countries in Europe have particularly high barriers to entry because of existing taxi unions. It’s why we are not yet in Greece or Italy with ride-hailing,” says Ms Yadav. However she argues that cost-prohibitive taxis make it harder for people to be efficient with their time and lead them to owning cars which pollute and clog-up cities. She takes the example of a taxi from Milan to its biggest airport, Malpensa, which costs around €100–130. “With ride-hailing rates, it could be brought down to a third of that,” she says. 

Another regulatory headwind is incoming rules in major economies such as Europe, the US and Australia that grant gig workers employee-like rights. According to the European Commission, its proposed Platform Work Directive will ensures a minimum wage, collective bargaining, paid leave, unemployment and sickness benefits,​ and contribution-based old-​age pensions. However Ms Yadav argues it will take flexibility away from both drivers and passengers, and that policy-makers are pushing for something that Bolt drivers do not want. “When I speak to our drivers about this reclassification, most of them don’t know about it. And when you tell them what it is, they hate it,” she says. “Why would I sign a contract and become your employee if instead I can make my own money … without the obligation of working X hours per week?” she quips, recalling their reaction.

New regions

Micromobility faces additional regulatory challenges. Some cities have responded to complaints about dangerous riding, and footpaths cluttered with scooters and bikes, by capping fleet sizes or issuing outright bans. The latest example is Paris, which banned rented scooters in September 2023. Ms Yadav describes micromobility as having “a glass ceiling” in highly regulated markets, and a business you cannot “grow exponentially without facing regulatory headwinds”.

It makes sense, she says, to expand this service into newer regions such as Africa where Bolt is yet to offer micromobility. 

Another region where Bolt has space to grow is North America. At present it operates only in Mexico, having not ventured into the US where Uber launched the world’s first major mobility app. On the prospect of entering what Ms Yadav describes as the “highly-competitive” US market, she says Bolt lacks “huge expertise” in the region generally. “It doesn't mean ‘no’ — just maybe not now,” she says, adding “like any other market where we're not present.” 

This article first appeared in the December 2023/January 2024 print edition of fDi Intelligence. It has been updated online to reflect the fact Bolt is now present in 48 countries.

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