Bolt.
Portfolio story • 2024
Equity at Bolt: Building a Future with Employee Ownership and Growth
It took them just 12 months to launch Bolt Food in over 70 cities and only four months to launch Bolt Drive.
Bolt is a European super-app offering ride-hailing, food delivery, and micromobility services, focused on affordability and sustainability. Bolt moves fast. It took them just 12 months to launch Bolt Food in over 70 cities and only four months to launch Bolt Drive.
As a rapidly growing scaleup company in the transport and food sectors, Bolt has built a reputation for attracting top talent. Central to its success is its focus on rewarding employees with stock options for their hard work.
Stock Options: Fostering Ownership and Long-Term Commitment
Bolt’s stock option program fosters employee ownership and aligns their interests with the company’s long-term success. Most employees are eligible, with options starting to vest from their first day. After a one-year "cliff period," 25% of options vest, with the rest vesting quarterly over the next four years.
The number of options depends on the employee's role, with senior positions receiving more. Bolt also offers equity top-ups during reviews and promotions, as well as regrants after full vesting to ensure continued investment in the company’s growth.
Converting Options into Cash
As Bolt is not yet a public company, the ability to cash out stock options is limited. However, they have facilitated secondary sales, allowing employees to convert some of their vested options into shares and sell them. Bolt aims to continue offering such opportunities in the future.
“Even though we strongly believe in the long-term growth of Bolt, we also plan to sell a small fraction of our shares every year to diversify our portfolios. Our employees use their liquidity to invest in startups or set up their lives, e.g. mortgage payments. Having more liquidity providers is only good for the region”
To exercise stock options, employees convert them into shares by paying a pre-determined ‘strike price.’ At Bolt, this strike price is set at €1 per unit, meaning employees can purchase a share for €1 and potentially sell it at a higher value to investors. The more Bolt’s stock value grows, the more profitable these options become for employees.
The same secondary sales system is used by other scaleups such as Veriff. We talked to one of their long-time employees, Joonatan Samuel, about when and why he sold some of his Veriff shares and what he used the money for. “Selling a small stake of my Veriff shares gave me the financial buffer to focus 100% on building my own startup Reiterate. Siena Secondary Fund fills the gap in the market and helps (ex)employees like me,” he said.
Bolt’s Continued Growth
Bolt operates in some of the world’s largest industries, including transport and food delivery, and has experienced significant growth in recent years by expanding into new markets and launching new business lines. As the company’s value continues to increase, the value of its stock options has followed suit, presenting significant opportunities for employees.
And with Bolt showing no signs of slowing down, the future looks promising for those invested in the company’s long-term success.