Aug 19, 2021
A couple of weeks ago, Bolt teams from across the world gathered for a 2-day hybrid Summer Summit. The main event was a live in-person meet-up in Tartu, Estonia, where 600 employees gathered with their fellow Bolters (many for the first time).
To make sure everyone was safe during the event, all attendees had to go through a compulsory COVID-19 check.
Attendees needed to do one of the following: take an antigen or PCR test (which returned a negative result), or provide an official COVID-19 recovery or vaccination certificate.
Only those that were deemed fit and healthy headed to the meet-up in Tartu.
The event kicked off with Bolt CEO, Markus Villig’s keynote speech in which he mentioned why Tartu is a special place for Bolt. It was the first city outside of Tallinn that the then Taxify launched in back in 2013.
That served as a stark reminder of just how far we’ve come in less than a decade of being in operation. Fast forward to 2021, and Bolt is live in more than 40 countries and over 200 cities all over the globe.
One of the biggest highlights of the day was the news that Bolt had closed our largest every funding round, increasing Bolt’s valuation to more than €4B! The funds were raised from a range of investors including Sequoia, Tekne, and Ghisallo, G Squared, D1 Capital, and Naya.
The event continued with a live panel discussion and presentations from many local teams, sharing insights and their experiences over the last year.
The 2-day Summit was hosted by the one and only Daniel Levi, who has been an ever-present and much-loved ball of energy at all major Bolt events for the last couple of years.
In the evening, Bolt employees were entertained by the Bombossa Brothers, Cartoon, and the one and only — Bolt Band!
Unfortunately, this year we couldn’t gather as a whole company as we did in Cape Town in 2018, Portugal in 2019, and Estonia, also in 2019.
Luckily, hosting an online event for people in every Bolt country isn’t a new thing for us! Almost 1,500 Bolt employees gathered together in front of their screens to participate in the online event.
The Bolt team in Ukraine, watching the Summer Summit virtually
The Bolt team in the Netherlands enjoying their lunch
After all the presentations had wrapped up, each country hosted its own activities and parties.
Together with the Bolt office team, the live-communication agency Jolos made sure that this year’s Summit would be remembered for a long time.
Our schedule was packed with all kinds of exciting activities — from morning workshops on topics like burnout, time management, and debating, to afternoon activities including meditation, orienteering around Tartu and.. a triathlon! (Yes, an actual triathlon that included swimming for 300 metres, cycling 15 km and running 4 km.
That evening, we welcomed artists including NOËP and Daniel Levi to the stage. Dancing to their music was the best way to burn off some calories after all the delicious breakfasts, lunches, and dinners we’d had over the previous 2 days.
The final evening — Daniel Levi on stage.
It’s always fun when the Bolt team comes together. But it’s fair to say that this was an extra special event for all of us — especially for those who joined the team recently and haven’t seen colleagues in person before (Zoom doesn’t really count!).
Seeing and celebrating the results we’ve achieved together only makes us want to work even harder to continue our mission.
And of course, after over a year of remote work Bolt employees were very happy to spend time around their colleagues! It was the perfect opportunity to feel that team spirit and get motivated for another incredibly busy year.
Speaking of busy…
If this event proved anything, it’s that Bolt’s culture and togetherness — despite recent challenges — has never been stronger.
We offer the most unique opportunity for individuals to learn and develop, while making a meaningful impact, in a hyper-growth environment.
If you feel inspired by our approach to work and want to join our journey, check out our vacancies — we have hundreds of open roles, from entry-level to top-level management, each an exciting opportunity to contribute towards our mission to make urban mobility more affordable, safe and sustainable.
If you’re ready to work in an exciting, dynamic, fast-paced industry, and you’re not afraid of a challenge, we’re waiting for you!
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