Lessons to learn from Bolt (Taxify) which has its valuation bumped up with its strategy to focus on growing markets

Taxify is a ride-hailing company which previously provided private cars for their customers. They have rebranded the company as Bolt and are now planning to enter the electric scooter rental business.

When CEO and Co-founder, Markus Villig was just 19 years old he wanted to start in the tech industry. Convincing the drivers to sign up for a new service was a tough job but Markus with his older brother and co-founder Martin was trying to get his startup Taxify to pick up the pace. While telling the story of Taxify, he recalls it took him several weeks to convince his parents to grant him the money that was kept for his education.

Bolt (Taxify) aims to bring fast and accessible transport to millions of people worldwide along with helping thousands of drivers support their families.

Today, Taxify is the biggest rival of Uber and other ride-hailing companies across the world. It is supported by Didi and Daimler and has raised $175 million in funding led by Daimler in the year 2018. This took its valuation to $1 billion.

Taxify changed its name to Bolt, which it has been using for its new electric scooter service to provide both the services – taxi service and e-scooter rental service under the same name. According to an article in TechCrunch, they have changed the name as the company started talks about another fundraising round. The CEO explained that he was sure that the future is all about electric vehicles and wanted a name that suggested the same. At the same time Bolt also means speed.

Taxify basically is a ride-hailing company from Estonia. It is active in around 30 countries and more than 100 cities across the world. Some of the countries where Bolt is currently active are Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Ghana, Hungary, Iraq, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

The has more than 25 million users and here is the report by sensortower about the last month downloads. Taxi ranks second after Uber in terms of downloads in Europe.

Unlike Uber, Bolt has never tried for global domination and never spent so much over launching aggressively to gain first-mover advantage. In fact, they have done the opposite. Markus believes that being the late entrant in the business can prove advantageous for him. In the future, they are planning to partner other players with self-driving technology in the future. As of now, they are investing in trying to provide multiple-service rather than self-driven cars.

Recent Business development of Bolt – Updated on 11-July 2019

Uber and Lyft going public have put closer public inspection on the ridesharing business. But there has been a tremendous effect on the level of competition in the space. According to recent reports in TechCrunch, Bolt has opened its business in London and it has a number of emerging markets. It has completed the first tranche of its latest round of funding. Bolt plans to fuel its international growth and for that, they have the equity injection with an increase in valuation of Bolt to more than $1 billion.

They have new funding supporting their recent launch back in London. The company also plans to expand further in the year 2019.  The Series C round is expected to have a tranche around €60 million ($67 million dollars) which is a bigger round with an aim to be in the region with the 100 million. Bolt has generated funding of $185 million with its last huge investment. The investors for its latest funding rounds according to TechCrunch are Nordic Ninjas, a new fund out of Sweden backed by a number of Japanese LPs. They are investing in the Northern European startups and Bolt is based in Tallinn. Involvement of G Squared, which has been a part of a number of growth rounds for a range of fast-growing and large tech startups, including Pinterest, SoFi, Airbnb, Coursera, Spotify, Postmates and Instacart and now in Bolt is making it clear that there is a huge sum of money involved and the competition is going to be really very tough. 

In the future, Bolt can also have a chance to explore the Japanese market to mark its first move into East Asia. This can complement a trail that involves a mix of developed and emerging markets in Western Europe, countries in the Arabic world, Africa, Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and Australia.

Japan is one of the powerful and developed countries which has till now outlawed ridesharing businesses. So, companies like Uber have followed another business model to enter the market which includes partnering with the established taxi companies in Japan. Bolt runs a plan based on the same idea, which helps it to grow quickly in the emerging markets. 

Bolt’s growth is majorly due to the focus on the business markets that have a lot of scopes and growth. They look for the markets that do not have widely-available ridesharing businesses already competing.

Features of Bolt Taxi app and Electric scooter app which you can include in the Bolt clone app or Taxify clone app

Here is how you can request a ride with the Bolt app:

» Open and set your destination

» Request a driver for pickup

» Check your driver’s arrival in real-time

» Enjoy the ride

» Pay in-app or in cash

» See the ride estimate, and know how much you will be charged in advance.

» Set your pickup location even if you don’t know the exact address from where the driver should pick you up.

» You can rate your driver and the service.

» You can add your credit card to your account and receive the receipt in your email after each ride.

To use Bolt electric scooter, you need to switch to the scooter mode in the app.

» You can find the nearest Bolt electric scooter on the street through the Bolt app.

» Scan the personal QR code in your Bolt app to unlock the Bolt scooter.

» Ride the e-scooter.

» Once you reach your destination, end the ride using the app and park the electric scooter safely.

» They encourage the riders to bring helmets to stay safe while riding and follow the traffic rules.

» The scooters should only be driven on bike lanes. The rider should pedestrians on sidewalks. They also encourage not to leave the scooters out of the city zones.

» The scooters should not be parked on the public pathways. They should be parked by the racks when available.

You too can make a two in one – taxi and electric scooter app.

The ride-hailing services are at the peak of success. There is without a doubt, a lot of scope in both the businesses. If you are in the transport business, instead of developing a taxi app or e-scooter app differently, you can develop a Bolt clone app to serve both your purposes and reach millions of customers across the world who wish to opt for an on-demand taxi or e-scooter.

Coruscate has a team of researchers who are always up-to-date with the new technologies and features that can be added to your taxi booking app and e-scooter app. When you come to us with a query, one of the members of our research team along with the business analyst and the developer understand your requirements in detail and then suggest you the best possible solution for your business. We believe in not just delivering the project but growing together. We have developed more than 50 apps for ride-hailing services including electric scooter apps and taxi apps. You can request a free demo through our contact us form.

Get in touch with us to check free Bolt clone app demo or cost estimation.