The fallout after Bolt’s aggressive fundraising attempt has been wild
After fintech Bolt surprised the industry with a leaked term sheet that revealed it is trying to raise at a $14 billion valuation, things got weird.
his past week was a wild one in the world of fintech as Bolt surprised the industry with a leaked term sheet that revealed it is trying to raise $200 million in equity and an unusual, additional $250 million in “marketing credits.”
As part of this deal, Bolt wanted a $14 billion valuation bolstered by an aggressive pay-to-play type cramdown that would try and force its existing investors to cough up more cash, too, or essentially lose their stakes to a 1 cent per share buyout.
The industry responded with a collective “We’ll see about that.”
Brad Pamnani, an investor who is spearheading the proposed $200 million equity investment deal, told TechCrunch on Thursday that shareholders have until the end of next week to indicate whether or not they plan to write checks into the new funding round.
To backtrack to the beginning: on August 20, the Information reported that one-click checkout startup Bolt was close to raising another $450 million at a potential $14 billion valuation. That would have been shocking if wholly true, but as more info emerged about this proposed deal, the details were not that straightforward.