Bolt's 2018 revenue grew fourfold, losses totaled €61 million
The revenue of Estonia's international ride-hailing platform Bolt, formerly known as Taxify, grew from €21.1 million in 2017 to €79.7 million in 2018. Its losses, meanwhile, totaled €61 million due to expansion-related investments.
Bolt co-founder and CEO Martin Villig said in a press release on Friday that its 2018 results met the company's expectations.
"We launched our service in over 50 new cities last year, and successfully introduced an electric scooter service," Villig said. "Meanwhile, we have also attained profitability in several mature markets without making any concessions in terms of growth."
Bolt's sales revenue more than doubled from €1.7 million to €3.7 million in 2018.
Last May, the company brought in $175 million (USD) from Daimler, Didi Chuxing and others. This financing brought the company to the $1 billion valuation mark, joining fellow ride-hailing giants including Lyft, Uber and Careem, among others.
"With the help of this investment, we've continued our expansion," Villig said. "We'll continue raising capital and expediting growth when we find an investor under the right conditions. The company's main focus for expansion is aimed at new cities in Europe and Africa. Product development in the area of electric scooters and food delivery is also ongoing."
The number of Bolt employees grew to 771 people in 2018, 267 of whom work in Estonia. The company plans to hire an additional 200 top specialists this year to support both the development of its platform as well as Bolt's geographical expansion.
Bolt is currently operating in over 30 countries and 100 cities. The company launched its electric scooter rental service in Tallinn, Pärnu and Riga in June, and food delivery service Bolt Food in Tallinn in August.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
