By Fred M. Mukhwana
Taxify will now be called Bolt, the Estonian-based ride firm announced in a statement on Thursday.
According to the statement, the company has changed both the name and the logo. But the app specifications haven’t changed.
Until now, the Bolt name was being used for Taxify’s electric scooter sharing service.
When Taxify was started five years ago, it focused only on cars. But it has since expanded its portfolio to motorcycles and scooters.
According to the statement, the update brings the brand identity in line with the company’s broader vision of transportation that has already expanded from ride-hailing, with cars and motorbikes, to scooter sharing.
Speaking on why the company chose to make the change, Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder, Bolt said, “Taxify launched five years ago with a mission to make urban transportation more convenient and affordable. Our first product was a taxi dispatch solution that gave the company its original name.”
The Estonian-born tech company has evolved since its inception to now serve 25 million customers in over 30 countries globally, making it a leader in Europe and Africa.
It was also the first company to bring ride-hailing and scooter sharing together in one single app and is currently working on expanding the scooter sharing service across a number of European cities.
“While we’ve made progress on our mission, we’ve also started to outgrow parts of our brand, including the name. Given our ambition to solve transportation problems on an increasingly broader scale, we want the brand to reflect the company’s future rather than the past. Our new name ‘Bolt’ stands for fast, effortless movement – exactly what the experience of getting around in a city should be, be it by car, scooter or public transport. It also underscores our belief that the future of transportation will be electric”, Country Manager for Uganda at Bolt, Julian Byamugisha, explained.
According to TechCrunch, the ride-hailing company has started talks for another round of funding.
Bolt last raised money in May 2018, when it closed a US$175 million round at a US$1 billion valuation led by Daimler.
