The controversial co -founder of Bolt, Ryan Breslow, who returned as a CEO at the starting of this month, spoke on Monday about a $ 30 million personal loan, which he took from his company, which caused legal battles and contributed to the (temporary) Ouster.
Breslow also announced that Bolt will launch “Everything APP”, which can integrate money from one click of every little thing, from cryptocurrency to financial services “very quickly”.
The legal battle for the loan began in 2023, when the investor’s activator Bolt sued Breslow. The activant stated that Breslow has attached a startup of $ 30 million, borrowing this amount, and then invaluable, and the company’s funds used to pay it off.
The case was finally settled, and Bolt agreed to purchase back assets for $ 37 million last yr.
Speech Fr. FinTech meeting Yesterday in Las Vegas, Breslow defended loans, describing it as an act of loyalty to Bolt, not self -sufficient, as they claimed to work.
He said that he made a loan as an alternative of selling his shares in a secondary transaction and that the loan was unanimously approved by Bolt’s management.
“It was done to be at Bolt,” said Breslow. “I took it out instead of selling significant secondary. I wanted to show all our investors that I keep all my tokens, I believe in actions that I don’t sell my shares. “
Breslow said he thought he had a lot of time to repay the loan and was waiting for Bolt for IPO. He said that after leaving the role of CEO, the management called a loan, which he considered “some attack”.
Breslow, the open founder of Bolt, gave way as the general director at the starting of 2022. In the years, he from that point to his return this yr he also met with allegations that he misled investors and violated the safety regulations by security law through Remove the indicators He ran the company for the last time while raising funds.
On Monday, Breslow admitted that he made “a lot of mistakes” – but he said they weren’t the accused. He considered his essential mistake as enabling people to hitch the Bolt’s Cap table that he “did not know very well” (without determining who).
“Super application” in work
Now, when he returned as a CEO, he says that Bolt will soon launch a new “great application” that integrates the impression of e-commerce e-commerce with one click Bolt in a wide selection of services.
“Instead of the money of one click, we will have one click of everything: financial services, peer-to-peer, cryptographic, cards, financial products, all in one application,” he said.
Breslow compared Bolt to the UK FinTech Revolut, which last yr was priced at $ 45 billion, claiming that Bolt has 80 million “wallets” in comparison with 45 million Revolut, although he admitted that Bolt has not “had not earned on our consumers yet.”
Indeed, Bolt’s ARR was about $ 28 million with $ 7 million gross profit at the end of March 2024. last yr. It’s small in comparison with Revolut, What announced USD 2.2 billion in revenues and $ 545 million in profits (before tax) for 2023.
The most significant query is on Bolt is the status of its next funds. In August, the messages appeared about a waiting agreement with a value of $ 450 million. But it caused questions about the extraordinary use of $ 250 million in “marketing loans” and no confirmation Investor’s investor incorrectly as his essential.
Some Bolta investors, including Blackrock and Hedosophia, sued for blocking the round, Forbes ReportedBut it was voluntarily rejected by all sides, bolt announced Today.
During the speech, Breslow noticed that “all” legal matters against him were “fully resolved, exempt”, but didn’t provide update of collecting funds in the amount of $ 450 million.
He commented, nevertheless, that he was “humiliated” with his experience and found a new determination to steer Bolt after his faith and himself – and his startup – he was questioned.
“You know, of course I make mistakes, but I have a very large chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I’m ready to take Bolt to really new heights.”
Blackrock and Hedosophia didn’t reply to the request for comment.