Bolt valuation and funding history
Tallinn, founded 2013
Markus Villig was nineteen when he founded what is now Bolt, the Estonian ride-hailing company, using about 5,000 euros borrowed from family. He built it in Tallinn and stayed there, and Sequoia Capital later led a 600 million euro round into it.
In August 2013 Markus Villig, nineteen and just out of school, started a taxi-hailing app called Taxify with roughly 5,000 euros borrowed from family, alongside his brother Martin and engineer Oliver Leisalu. The company was renamed Bolt in March 2019.
He did not have a network, a degree, or a Bay Area postcode. He had a small amount of family money and a city where taxis were hard to hail. Estonia stayed the headquarters through every round that followed.
- Founded
- 2013
- Headquarters
- Tallinn
- Rounds raised
- 5
- Latest valuation
- 6.3B euro
- Latest round
- January 2022
The whole raise
| Round | Amount | Valuation | Led by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series CMay 2018 | $175M | $1B | Daimler, Didi Chuxing |
| Series C, second trancheJuly 2019 | $67M | over $1B | Creandum, Nordic Ninja, Naya Capital |
| Series DDecember 2020 | 150M euro | D1 Capital Partners | |
| Series EAugust 2021 | 600M euro | over 4B euro | Sequoia Capital |
| Follow-onJanuary 2022 | 628M euro | 7.4B euro | Sequoia Capital, Fidelity |
Most recent mark: 6.3B euro, set by a secondary share sale in September 2025, not by a funding round. about 14 percent below the January 2022 peak.
What the numbers say
A nineteen year old in Tallinn with 5,000 euros of family money eventually raised more than a billion, and it is not a straight line. Bolt has not announced a new equity round since January 2022. Its own filed accounts show 1.99 billion euro of 2024 revenue and a net loss of about 103 million. Both halves of that are true, and the second half does not undo the first.
What this means for your raise
- 01
The starting capital was 5,000 euros
Not a friends and family round, not an accelerator cheque. Five thousand euros and a city with a problem worth solving. Whatever you think you need before you begin, it is probably less than that.
- 02
Nobody funded him because of where he was
Sequoia led a 600 million euro round into an Estonian company. Being outside the usual places did not disqualify Bolt; it just meant the investors had to be found rather than bumped into.
- 03
Valuations move in both directions
Bolt peaked at 7.4 billion euro and was marked lower three years later. That is normal and survivable, and any story that only shows the climb is selling you something.
Every one of these started with a first investor conversation.
Find your investorsFrequently asked questions
What is Bolt valued at?
Bolt was last valued at 6.3B euro, set by a secondary share sale in September 2025 rather than by a funding round.
Who are Bolt investors?
Rounds at Bolt have been led by D1 Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity.
When was Bolt founded?
Bolt was founded in 2013 in Tallinn.
Figures are as publicly reported and were distilled from RF Stories issue 6. Valuations move, so treat this as a snapshot rather than a live quote.
