Taxify Rebrands To Bolt In Expansion Move
Estonian taxi-hailing app Taxify has rebranded to Bolt.
The company which is now active in 30 countries, has opted to remove “taxi” from its name and rebranding as Bolt, the same name that it has been using for its new electric scooter service, to double down on providing multiple transportation options beyond private cars.
“We are changing our name and logo, but the app with great ride prices and fast arrival times will stay just as good as ever.”
“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,” says Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder of Bolt.
This comes at a time that the company has started talks for another round of funding.
The rebrand from Taxify to Bolt is serving a few purposes, according to CEO and co-founder Markus Villig. Tapping the basic meanings of “bolt”, the new name implies speed, as well as electricity.
“We are bullish that the future is fully electric and so we wanted a name that moved us away from the combustion engine,” said Villig.
“Putting future engine technology to one side, the move away from using “taxi” in the name also underscores how the startup intends to widen its remit to cover more than just car-based rides. Cars may make up the vast majority of Bolt’s service today, but the plan is to add more scooters, other individual transport modes, and soon public transport links.The old name was too restrictive.”
Bolt has more than 25 million users in over 30 countries globally.
The new brand will be gradually rolled out across Bolt’s global markets over the following weeks. Bolt users will not need to take any action as the app will update automatically.
