TOP STORIES 🔥

💵 Bolt to break shared mobility curse?

In a recent announcement, Bolt has secured €220m in credit from JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and other global banks. This comes after €628m raised in 2022, as well as €126m in 2023. Markus Villig, Bolt’s co-founder and CEO, said the funding was in preparation for an IPO, ideally in the next year. Whilst it is not yet confirmed, they plan to list on the Amsterdam stock exchange.

However, the question that remains is whether Bolt can break free from curse of shared mobility, and remain financially strong after going public. So far only two companies have tried: Bird, who filed for bankruptcy last December, and Helbiz, whose stock price has now fallen to 0.0096 USD.

Bolt may be able to stay clear of these financial pitfalls however, as it has a diverse offering outside of shared mobility, crucially in ridesharing and takeaway services.

📈 Car sharing is on the rise

Car sharing had a very strong 2023, recording a fleet growth of 25%, and a 39% increase in ridership.

To explore this, we are going to speak to wigo, a car sharing operator in Hungary that is going from strength to strength; Bruxelles Mobilité, the city that recorded the 2nd highest growth in car sharing trips in 2022; and IDnow, a company specialising in ID verification to speed up the user onboarding process.

LAUNCHES AND EXPANSIONS 🚀

Arriva | 🚲
Launch in Senec (SK)

BiciMia | 🚲
Expansion in Brescia (IT)

Emmy | 🛵 (300)
Launch in Dresden (DE)

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PAUSES & EXITS 👋

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CITY UPDATES 🌐

Bergen (NO) | City to take Ryde to court over two warehouse fires, with fines of over €30,000.

Castelo Branco (PT) | Pilot bike rental scheme started with 25 bikes.

Gothenburg (SE) | City’s transport operator trials a new digital map that integrates private scooter and bike fleets.

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INDUSTRY NEWS 🗞️

AutoBinck Group acquires Dutch car sharing operator SnappCar.

Bolt raises €220m in funding ahead of IPO.

Getaround to receive up to $50m in financing, with $20m already secured.

Lime uses batteries from Swobbee for their cargo bikes.

Eloop, a Viennese car sharing operator, files for bankruptcy and closes all car sharing operations.