Bolt Financial
{{Short description|U.S. fintech company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Bolt Financial Inc.
| logo = File: Bolt_checkout_logo_2023.jpg
| image =
| image_caption =
| type = Private
| traded_as =
| industry = Fintech
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2014|01}} in San Francisco
| founders = {{Unbulleted list| Ryan Breslow| Eric Feldman}}
| location = San Francisco
| key_people = Ryan Breslow (Chairman)
Maju Kuruvilla (CEO)
| products = Bolt CheckoutOS
Bolt SSO Commerce
Commerce Everywhere
| area_served = North America, Europe
| num_employees = 500+
| homepage = {{URL|https://bolt.com}}
}}
Bolt Financial Inc. (Bolt) is an American financial technology company that provides merchants with software to facilitate one-click online checkouts. It was founded in 2014 in San Francisco.{{Cite news|date=2021-10-12|title=Fintech Startup Bolt Sees Valuation Surge to $6 Billion|language=en|work=Bloomberg.com (News)|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-12/bolt-sees-valuation-hit-6-billion-by-offering-way-to-compete-with-amazon-amzn|access-date=2021-10-27}}{{Cite news |last=Bertoni |first=Steve|date=April 4, 2022 |title=Millennial Billionaire Ryan Breslow Created Buzz, And Enemies, Attacking Stripe And Shopify. He’s Just Getting Started. |page=1|work=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2022/04/04/meet-the-gen-z-billionaire-whos-speaking-his-truth-to-silicon-valley/ |access-date=August 23, 2022}}
History
Bolt was founded by Stanford University computer science students Ryan Breslow and Eric Feldman in 2014. Their goal was to simplify online checkout for consumers and help independent retailers compete with Amazon, which held the patent on one-click checkout until 2017.{{Cite web|last=Morris|first=David Z.|title=Checkout Startup Raises $65 Million to Help Smaller Retailers Take On Amazon |url=https://fortune.com/2019/07/09/checkout-startup-bolt-small-retailer-amazon/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Fortune |language=en}} The company initially operated out of Breslow's dorm room.{{Cite web |last=Pickert |first=Sophie Alexander and Reade |date=2019-03-11 |title=Unicorn factory: The university where dropouts start billion-dollar companies |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-unicorn-factory-the-university-where-dropouts-start-billion-dollar-companies-20190311-p5136n.html |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Kauflin|first=Jeff|title=The Future Of Payments: Fintech 50 2021|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2021/06/08/the-future-of-payments-fintech-50-2021/|access-date=2021-11-19|website=Forbes|language=en}}
In 2021, the company entered into partnerships with its first European clients{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Christine |date=2022-01-14 |title=Fresh round of $355M lifts online checkout company Bolt into decacorn territory |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/14/online-checkout-bolt-decacorn/ |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}} and acquired Tipser, a technology company based in Sweden.{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=Christine |title=Bolt makes first acquisition with Tipser, launches ‘Remote Checkout’ |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/29/bolt-acquisition-tipser-remote-checkout/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}
In December 2021, it raised $393 million, bringing Bolt's total funding to almost $1 billion. Its valuation was $11bn as of January 2022.{{Cite news |date=2022-01-14 |title=Startup Bolt Nearly Doubles Valuation to $11 Billion |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com (News)|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-14/e-commerce-startup-bolt-nearly-doubles-valuation-to-11-billion |access-date=2022-05-24}}
In February 2022, Maju Kuruvilla was named CEO.{{Cite web |title=Meet Maju Kuruvilla, the new Indian-origin CEO of fintech startup Bolt |url=https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/meet-maju-kuruvilla-the-new-indian-origin-ceo-of-fintech-startup-bolt/slidelist/89292220.cms |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=www.businessinsider.in |language=en}}
In February 2024, Bolt had under 700 employees, and was valued at approximately $300 million - a 97% decrease in price from 21 months prior.{{Cite news |last=Weinberg |first=Cory |last2=Woo |first2=Erin |last3=Mascarenhas |first3=Natasha |date=2024-02-12 |title=Bolt, Once Worth $11 Billion, Slashes Share Price 97% in Buyback |language=en-US |work=The Information |url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/bolt-once-worth-11-billion-slashes-price-97-in-buyback |access-date=2024-07-02}}
Bolt announced in August 2024 that it was seeking a $450 million investment, raising capital from its lead investor The London Fund.{{Cite web|url=https://siliconangle.com/2024/08/20/fintech-startup-bolt-reportedly-raising-450m-14b-valuation/|title=Fintech startup Bolt reportedly raising $450M at $14B valuation|last=Deutscher|first=Maria|date=20 August 2024|website=Silicon Angle}} Instead of cash, the fundraising partly involved The London Fund pledging up to $250m in influencer marketing credits.{{Cite web|url=https://tech.eu/2024/08/30/questions-raised-about-london-vc-firm-backing-bolts-proposed-450m-fundraise/|title=Questions raised about portfolio of London VC firm backing Bolt’s proposed $450m fundraise|last=Reynolds|first=John|date=30 August 2024|website=Tech EU}} However, a publication by Axios revealed that, out of the twenty active portfolio companies listed on The London Fund website, none of the fund's portfolio companies had "never heard of The London Fund".{{Cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/2024/08/28/bolt-london-fund-ryan-breslow|title=Bolt's big deal comes under new scrutiny|last=Primack|first=Dan|date=28 August 2024|website=Axios}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}