Estonian start-up Bolt is eyeing expansion as it launches its first Irish e-bike rental service in Sligo.
Micromobility company Bolt is investing up to €5m in the roll-out of its e-bike rental services across Irish cities and towns. It also plans to create up to 50 new jobs and significantly expand its head office in Dublin.
The jobs news comes as Bolt marks the launch of 100 e-bikes in Sligo, its first such rental service in Ireland. It is now in talks with other councils to accelerate the deployment of its services across the country in line with the goals of the National Development Plan and the Climate Action Plan.
Aisling Dunne, head of public policy at Bolt Ireland, said that the country has a “persistently high” car usage with many journeys falling well below 4km, paving the way for more sustainable alternatives to have an impact.
“We have long identified Ireland as having high potential for micromobility and are really excited to back this launch in Sligo with further investment,” she said.
Local councillor Paul Taylor, Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, described it as “an excellent initiative” and expects that it “will prove very popular with the Sligo community”.
Estonian start-up Bolt, founded in 2013, offers a range of mobility services including e-scooter, ride-hailing and car-sharing schemes. It also operates food and grocery delivery services.
It raised €628m in January, its largest funding round to date, to invest in its grocery delivery service Bolt Market.
The latest investment in Ireland is part of larger €150m commitment from Bolt to invest heavily in micromobility and expand its light vehicle fleet across Europe. It currently offers its micromobility services in more than 170 cities across 20 countries in Europe.
Bolt is also keen to launch its e-scooter service in Ireland when the required legislation is in place – one of several micromobility start-ups eyeing up the Irish market.
However, e-scooter regulations in Ireland likely won’t be in place until 2023, according to the Government’s 2022-2025 action plan for the National Sustainable Mobility Policy published in April.
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