By Dipo Olowookere
The management of popular ride-hailing company, Taxify, has announced a change to the name of the firm to Bolt.
CEO of the company, Mr Markus Villig, explained that the name was change because it was “too restrictive.”
He explained further that the management had to agree to remove the word “taxi” from the company’s name in order to change the impression that it was only offering car-based rides.
According to him, the new name, Bolt, will imply speed and electricity, adding that the company was counting on the fact that the future is fully digitalized.
Mr Villig said Bolt intends to add more scooters, individual transport modes and public transport links, pointing out that the change of name was in line to highlight the fact that it offers transportation services beyond private cars.
Taxify is a Europe based e-hailing app launched in August 2013, expanding to international shores in 2014, operating in 27 countries across the globe.
In 2016, the firm commenced operations in Africa particularly in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.
With this latest development, Taxify, now Bolt, may to look for fresh funds to boost its services. During its last funding round in May 2018, the company secured $175 million from Daimler and reached a $1 billion valuation.
The company has up to 25 million users worldwide.
