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Martin 🇪🇪
Co-Founder of Bolt & Entrepreneur
Martin Villig is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Bolt, a prominent mobility super-app operating in over 500 cities across 45 countries in Europe and Africa. Since its inception in August 2013, Bolt has grown significantly, serving over 100 million passengers and collaborating with 2.5 million drivers and couriers, while also offering services like electric scooter rentals and food delivery through Bolt Food.
With more than 20 years of experience in technology and entrepreneurship, Villig has previously been involved with notable companies such as the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange and Skype. He is also an active advocate for entrepreneurship and education in the Baltic region, co-founding initiatives like the Estonian Founders Society and the Garage48 Foundation, which organizes hackathons to foster innovation.
Villig's educational background includes a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Estonian Business School. His contributions to the community have been recognized with several awards, including the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in Estonia and the Order of the White Star IV class from the Estonian President for his entrepreneurial and community efforts.1
Highlights
🇬🇭 Can Bolt drivers and couriers create the next billion-dollar idea?
When we founded Bolt in 2013 with Markus Villig, we never imagined that we would one day be supporting the drivers and couriers on our platform to launch their own businesses. Today, 11 years later, this has become a reality.
June marked the end of our first-ever Bolt Accelerator program in Ghana. In total, 500 partners submitted their business cases, with the shortlisted 120 going through the Bolt Academy accelerator to perfect their ideas for Pitch Day.
And fresh out of the Pitch Day – here are some of the 10 winning ideas:
🆘An app-based service and towing assistance to help stranded motorists and limit accidents related to sudden breakdowns on the road. 📦Scheduled pickup and storage solutions for students moving across Ghana at the beginning and the end of university semesters. 💦A car wash at your doorstep. 🛒Modern automobile stores for groceries. 🚐A minibus service to efficiently transport the airport workers home and help them avoid the highly congested areas.
In addition to the shared €20,000 Seed Fund, #Bolt will continue funding mentorship for the winners to support the launch of 10 new businesses in Ghana. 🚀
Have you ever dreamt about becoming an #entrepreneur?
Bolt just launched our first electric bike fleet in Kenya! 🛵
Did you know that there are about 2 million registered motorbikes in #Kenya, but only 2,000 drivers have been estimated to switch from petrol to electric?
Why so low?
Well, most drivers simply cannot afford EV #motorbikes. Drivers tell us that despite the lower operating costs, the higher price and initial down payment still reduce their ability to switch from petrol to electric motorbikes. 🫰
That’s why we partnered with M-KOPA, #Africa's leading fintech platform, and bike providers Roam and Ampersand Energy. We're offering drivers more affordable initial payment and lease costs, adding up to 40% savings in the total cost of ownership compared to petrol bikes, and ultimately transferring ownership to the driver.
I’m also happy to share that the response from the driver community has been great, and what’s more - we’re just getting started!
Electric motorbikes offer a chance to boost mobility, jobs, and income, and cut carbon emissions. So, in the next three years, Bolt aims to bring 5,000 electric motorbikes to market in Nairobi and beyond! ⚡
#Bolt #Kenya #BoltEV
