LOS ANGELES: Ryan Breslow, the chief executive officer (CEO) of one-click checkout company Bolt Financial Inc, is back with a fresh pitch to investors – seeking to raise US$600mil, according to sources.
Previous attempts by the 31-year-old Breslow to raise cash hit roadblocks.
The pitch asks for funding to be evenly split between Breslow’s two companies, Bolt and Love.com Shops LLC, said a source.
Bolt is a financial technology company that reached a US$11bil valuation before it was accused of overstating customer relationships and the capacity of its technology (a lawsuit from its largest customer is now settled). Love is a wellness startup Breslow co-founded that sells soaps, supplements and other products.
Breslow declined to comment on the effort, but said in an interview that Bolt is growing, and that he has “restored relationships with the vast majority of venture capitalists.”
Bolt is seeking the US$300mil funding at an US$11bil valuation, in a financing that would be structured as a continuation of its previous round three years ago.
It couldn’t be determined if Breslow had successfully lined up interest from investors for the funding round.
Bolt became a Silicon Valley spectacle in recent years after a series of well-publicised travails – including cycling through CEOs, multiple lawsuits and social media pot-stirring by Breslow.
Breslow has made big pitches to investors before: In 2022, one month after he raised US$355mil for Bolt, the company tried to raise another round of funding that would boost its valuation to US$14bil.
But the deal was never announced.
Instead, Bolt laid off one-third of its employees that spring.
More recently, the company attempted an unusual Series F funding round that would allegedly have funnelled millions to Breslow directly, according to a lawsuit from Bolt Investors.
The litigation was eventually voluntarily dismissed. A funding deal was never announced.
Breslow, who has said he takes time to meditate and dance every day, returned as CEO of the company in March.
Earlier this month, the company partnered with Palantir Technologies Inc to add artificial intelligence technology to its payments services.
Today, Breslow said Bolt is gaining traction. The company has signed more deals in the past two weeks, he said, than in the last three years since he stepped away from daily operations.
He added that the number of shoppers on Bolt’s network has increased eightfold to 80 million. —Bloomberg
