The Digital Horizon Venture Fund has invested in the American checkout service Bolt for the second time, with its investment in the platform reaching $40M in total. Bolt’s latest funding round — a Series E led by BlackRock — has raised $355M. New investors Schonfeld, Invus Opportunities, H. I. G. Growth and CE Innovation Capital joined the round.

Bolt allows consumers to place online orders and pay for them in one click on thousands of web sites. A buyer only needs to register on the universal checkout once, and all further authorizations in partner stores will be automatic.

According to Bolt, retailers who use its universal checkout service see significant improvement in key online metrics. Conversion to purchase increases by 50%, repeat purchase rate grows by 66%, and time to checkout decreases by 38%.

Bolt aims to increase the number of users up to 100 million in the next 18 months. Bolt’s phenomenal growth is linked to great business development. In 2021, the company released new products, entered the European market, announced major partnerships including the agreements with Adobe and PrestaShop, and bought the Swedish startup Tipser.

Alan Vaksman, founder and managing partner of Digital Horizon:

“Open decentralized ecosystems help independent players to provide customers with shopping experience almost at the same level as big ecosystem players do. Bolt is an example of a great tool that allows online retailers to improve metrics and develop their business without significant investment.”

About the company

Digital Horizon is a next generation venture capital firm headquartered in London.

Digital Horizon has substituted the traditional approach to venture capital investment for its ‘new age’ methodology, which accelerates return on investment at every stage, minimizes risk and maximizes profitability. Digital Horizon supports and empowers passionate founders, especially migratory and diverse talents, who are creating enduring and meaningful start-ups.

Digital Horizon manages two multistage funds, a growth fund and a venture builder, and predominantly focuses on the fintech and enterprise software sectors. Its funds have invested in a portfolio of successful start-ups including Klarna, Lemonade, Monday. com, Ably, and Bolt.

Digital Horizon was founded in 2018 by Alan Vaksman, a venture capitalist and banker with over 20 years of experience in UK, Europe, and Africa. It now employs almost 100 specialists with expertise in VC, IT and product development.