The leading European on-demand transportation platform Bolt (formerly Taxify) started operations in Russia today by launching its ride-hailing services in the country’s second-largest city, St Petersburg.
St Petersburg is home to 5 million people and is the 4th largest city in Europe, after Istanbul, Moscow and London. In 2018, it hosted more than 8 million tourists.
Bolt will be introducing competition to a market dominated by the local Yandex.Taxi since its merger with Uber’s ride-hailing services in the region in 2018.
Jevgeni Beloussov, General Manager, Head of Central and Eastern Europe at Bolt, said: “Russia is a rapidly growing on-demand transportation marketplace. Bolt’s launch in St Petersburg will bring more choice to both customers and drivers and push the ride-hailing services to be more reliable and affordable. We’re happy to work with cities in Russia to help solve transportation issues for their citizens and will also bring with us the level of quality and service that we’ve demonstrated to our customers across Europe.”
The starting fee of a Bolt ride in St Petersburg will be 50 rubles, the fee for each kilometre 13 rubles and 5 rubles for each minute during the ride. The minimum cost of a trip is 79 rubles (1€). To celebrate opening the service, Bolt gives all its customers up to 50% discount on the rides.
Bolt has to date raised $175 million to fuel its expansion across Europe and Africa. It has most recently launched its services in Finland, Sweden and Croatia, while the company already has more than 25 million customers in more than 30 countries. Bolt has also rolled out an electric kick scooter service in Paris and Madrid and announced plans to launch a food delivery service across its core markets.
About Bolt
Bolt, formerly known as Taxify, is the leading European on-demand transportation platform that’s focused on making urban travel easier, quicker and more reliable.
Founded by Markus Villig, Bolt launched in 2013. It’s one of the fastest-growing transportation platforms in Europe and Africa with investors including Daimler, Didi Chuxing, Korelya Capital and TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus.
Bolt has 25 million customers in over 30 countries globally. www.bolt.eu
About the CEO
Markus Villig is the founder and CEO of Bolt (formerly Taxify). He teamed up with his brother Martin, ex-Skype, to build the first version of Bolt in 2013 when he was 19 years old. Markus has been featured as the youngest CEO in Forbes Europe 30 under 30 list and is the youngest founder of a billion dollar company in Europe.