Ride-Hailing App Bolt Valued At Nearly $5B After Funding Round

Uber competitor Bolt is not putting all its eggs in its ride-sharing basket. Instead, the European company is using 600 million euros (nearly $713 million) generated in a recent funding round to bolster its new grocery delivery service, Bolt Market, the company announced on Monday (Aug. 2). Bolt Market will debut in 10 European countries over the next several months, including the Baltics and Central Europe, Sweden, Portugal, Croatia and Romania, the company said.

With the latest funding, Bolt’s valuation has increased to more than 4 billion euros ($4.75 billion). In addition to boosting the company’s food delivery service, funds will be used to expedite the expansion of Bolt mobility and delivery apps. Various investors contributed to the funding round, including Sequoia, Tekne, and Ghisalllo, G Squared, D1 Capital and Naya.

As PYMNTS reported previously, the grocery delivery service is booming. In June, Turkish grocery delivery service Getir announced a $550 million funding round, which drove the company’s valuation to $7.5 billion – an amount that is 35 percent larger than restaurant delivery service, Grubhub. Getir specializes in 10-minute delivery and fulfills more than 5 million orders per month. Gorillas, another 10-minute delivery provider, operating in London and Paris, recently reached $6 billion in value. Instacart recently debuted a 30-minute delivery service. Other grocery delivery services have popped up as well.

Read more: Turkish Delivery Firm Getir Nets $7.5B Valuation, 35 Pct Larger Than Grubhub

According to a recent analysis, additional newcomers could be arriving to the grocery delivery service business as well, with the global grocery delivery market projected to reach $663 billion by 2024, representing a 25 percent increase per year.

Like fellow speedy food delivery services, Bolt Market will deliver food within 15 minutes, according to Forbes. In addition to the ride-hailing service, Bolt offers car-sharing service, Bolt Drive, as well as scooter and e-bike sharing. It also offers Bolt Food, which delivers restaurant meals to customers. Bolt has 75 million customers nationwide, according to the company.