Bolt, an Estonia-based ride-hailing and food delivery platform that serves customers in Europe and Africa, is entering the North American market to compete against Uber and Lyft.
Earlier this year, the company started offering ride-hailing services in Toronto and scooter rentals in Washington state through its Hopp app, using the same playbook that it uses for its operations elsewhere — taking a smaller cut of riders' fares than competing companies. While Uber and Lyft keep about 30-35% of the rider fare in the US, Bolt generally keeps 15-20%.
However that's not all who's coming after Uber and Lyft…
The two ride-hailing platforms are also experiencing competition on their turf from startups aiming to completely change the business model. For example, Hovr in Toronto, Empower in Washington, and Hum in Arizona and Idaho, let drivers keep 100% of the fares, instead charging drivers a flat rate per month for access to their networks of passengers. (I love that model.)
A few years back, I actually invested in a NYC-based startup called The Drivers Cooperative that was building a driver-owned alternative to Uber and Lyft, but that turned out to be a washout.
Some competition will succeed, others will fail, but I support the initiatives either way. US ride sharing desperately needs some healthy competition to bring the cost down for riders.