On Thursday, Estonia-based ride-hailing service provider Bolt stated, it has decided to invest $118 million in 2021 and has set a goal to become the biggest e-scooter rental company in Europe.

The development comes at a time when cab services have been severely affected by the coronavirus-induced COVID19 pandemic.

As part of this strategy Bolt said, it aims to bring in 130,000 scooters in more than 100 cities in 2021 and expand aggressively across the European Union.

“There is so much room to grow,” said Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder of Bolt.

It was logical to expect consumers to switch from public transport and taxis to open-air e-scooters midst the coronavirus-induced COVID-19 pandemic, but we will need more evidence to support this line of thinking, said Villig.

He went on to add, Bolt was benefiting from its established ride-hailing business when competing against e-scooter firms such as Tier, as it helps to directly tap its over 30 million users and benefit from cost synergies in marketing and sales.

Earlier this year in May, the company raised 100 million euros from Naya Capital Management, an investment firm, in a deal which values the company at 1.7 billion euros.

Founded in 2013, Bolt has more than 30 million users across 35 countries. It has managed to grab a significant market share from Uber, in major African cities and in Eastern Europe.

($1 = 0.8494 euros)