Bolt is one of the most prominent companies in central eastern Europe (CEE), if not the entire continent.
The 11-year-old Estonian mobility giant plans to be IPO-ready by 2025 — but it’s been around long enough to be a breeding ground for a new generation of entrepreneurs.
Some of Bolt’s alumni have set up their own businesses — which mirrors founder factories at other successful tech companies,such as Skype, UiPath, Revolut and Monzo. Like Bolt’s operations, which span more than 45 countries, the employee-turned-founders have been making their mark across Europe.
From Stockholm to Vilnius, Sifted has profiled six companies founded by former employees at Bolt, using data from Dealroom and LinkedIn.
This list isn’t exhaustive — If we’ve missed anyone who should be included, email us.
Adam
Founded: 2020
Funding: Seed
HQ: Prague
Roman Sysel joined Bolt’s Prague office in 2015 as the only person in the region — for seven years, he worked as the regional manager for CEE.
Five years later, he cofounded Adam, a marketplace for home services which helps homeowners access affordable construction-related services, such as painting, decorating and renovation.
The startup employs 40 people and recently raised €3m from Brighteye, a London-based VC. Markus Villig, Bolt’s cofounder, was one of the startup’s early investors.
Due
Founded: 2022
Funding: Seed
HQ: London
Due is a fintech offering a ‘borderless’ money account that allows for fast, accessible and low-cost international money movements for businesses and individuals around the world. It was founded by Robert Sargsian, who was Bolt’s country manager in Armenia between 2019 and 2020, and who then worked in the company’s product strategy team in Tallinn.
The startup raised a €3.3m seed round last year led by Semantic and Fabric Ventures, with participation from BlockTower VC, Speedinvest, Polymorphic Capital and Discovery Ventures.
Before launching Due, Sargsian also had a stint at Revolut.
Carmate
Founded: 2023
Funding: Bootstrap
HQ: Warsaw
Alex Kartsel, who was Bolt’s country manager for Poland between 2017 and 2019, cofounded his own startup in 2023. Warsaw-based Carmate is a B2B software startup for car dealers that uses AI tools to facilitate the process of used car sales: it aggregates all market listings of used cars, evaluates used cars market prices based, and automatises the interactions between the sellers and the customers interactions.The startup has been bootstrapped and is in currently in an investment process.
Evergrowth
Founded: 2023
Funding: Pre-seed
HQ: Vilnius
Evergrowth is an AI-powered sales platform founded in 2023 by Tadas Cekavicius, a serial entrepreneur who was Bolt’s country manager for Lithuania between 2016 and 2017. The company provides sales teams with actionable insights into their accounts and prospects, facilitating targeted and personalised engagements.
Evergrowth raised a €2m pre-seed round in February this year, led by US VC Impellent Ventures and Lithuania’s Practica Capital. The company is based in Vilnius and New York, employing 40 people across Europe and the US.
Pick
Founded: 2023
Funding: Bootstrap
HQ: Bucharest
Pick is a personal assistant for ride-hailing drivers cofounded by Tudor Beiu, who first worked for Bolt as an operations specialist and then managed a fleet of cars for the Estonian mobility giant in Romania. Pick aims to offer a range of services in a single app that are mandatory for workers within the ride-hailing industry, such as accountancy, cost-effective fuel deals, car maintenance and insurance.
Tab
Founded: 2024
Funding: Seed
HQ: Stockholm
Tab was founded in February 2024 by Calle Mellbin, who was country manager for Bolt Food in Sweden between 2022 and 2023. The company is an API-first solution that sends smart receipts to consumers’ mobile bank apps as soon as they pay a merchant for something. It also automates the expense-management process for companies.
In March, the startup raised €225k in seed funding from Helsinki-based Icebreaker VC. Bolt’s founder, Markus Villig, and one of the mobility company’s first investors, Mikko Silventola, invested as angels.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/bolt-alumni-startup-founders/
