Estonian super app Bolt will be investing 300 million baht to strengthen its Thailand operations as part of the South East Asian growth strategy.
The move came after Bolt had raised 628 million euros and now its valuation is 7.4 Billion euros for global expansion.
The expansion continues the intensive competition against the local ride-hailing businesses such as Grab, Line man, and Air Asia.
Ride-hailing services had been growing since the Pandemic took place. Last year Grab Taxi posted a 576 million baht profit. It’s the first time on the positive side that it has been since operating for a decade. The group is also targeting for profit this year as well.
Thailand is a very important market for Bolt as its existing demand for its Economic expansion and most importantly its status as its tourism hotspot.
Thailand at the moment is the only country in the South East Asian region that Bolt has its presence.
The country’s ride-hailing sector has an opportunity to grow to half the population which will be up from 10% at the present moment. Bolt is expected to grow to 160 Billion baht from 78 Billion baht within 5 years and a growth rate of 9.4% annually.
The 300 million baht Bolt will be investing in will be used for expansion and services. Also will be creating a lot of new jobs for drivers that would like to join the platform.
Bolt will be expecting to double amount the drivers this year.
Bolt is aware of the market competition in Thailand and is wanting to be an alternative choice for customers and most importantly creating healthy competition.
Bolt has a unique way of doing business and selecting wide investments but most importantly a flexible operation.
June 12 onwards it will be collecting 15% comission fees from its drivers.
With the fees being collected it will be allowed to be reinvested for creating new features and of course for its customers to reserve in advance.
At this moment the ride-hailing service is available in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket.
Its main passengers according to Bolt is mostly the young market.
Bolt services now are operating in 45 Countries and 500 cities across Europe. Globally it aims to be profitable in the coming 12 months. At this very time, it doesn’t need to be raising any capital.
