Ryan Breslow, the controversial entrepreneur who returned as CEO of Bolt last year after years of legal battles and clashes with investors, refuses to give up on the checkout processing startup he co-founded in 2014. The company, which hit an $11 billion valuation in early 2022 before plummeting 97% to $300 million, is now raising a bridge round of up to $27 million, Breslow told TechCrunch. Bridge rounds are short-term financings meant to tide a company over until its next major fundraise.
The capital is being raised from existing investors and structured as a convertible note, meaning it will turn into equity at a discount once Bolt closes a future funding round. It also includes a punitive ‘pay-to-play’ provision, meaning backers who don’t participate will lose a large portion of their equity in the company. Although Breslow didn’t frame it as such, the new financing may be the company’s last shot at survival.
Breslow did not respond to requests for comment on what constitutes those legacy obligations. Startups generally raise bridge financings in two situations: when they are performing well and need six to 12 months to hit their next milestone, or when they are running low on cash and need time to restructure or reach profitability. Breslow declined to disclose how much cash Bolt has left, though he claimed the company is nearing profitability and returning to growth after years of shrinking revenue.
While it is not clear if Bolt is indeed running out of capital, Breslow is clearly determined to see the startup he founded 12 years ago, at age 19 as a Stanford dropout, survive. I believe Bolt is worth saving,” he told TechCrunch. Breslow is personally committing $5 million to the round to demonstrate his belief in the company.
Whether Bolt’s backers share that confidence—and help it hit its fundraising target—remains to be seen. Breslow estimates that participation from Bolt’s roughly 100 investors will total at least $15 million, though he noted not everyone is expected to join in. Breslow told TechCrunch shortly after being reinstated as Bolt’s CEO in March 2025—three years after stepping down from the role—that he was in “early conversations” about a new round.
Ultimately, bringing the company to a point of a publicly announced fundraise took more than a year. The new financing comes two years after Breslow attempted a $450 million round at a $14 billion valuation. That deal collapsed after existing investors, including BlackRock and Hedosophia, sued to block it, following revelations that one investor named as a lead backer of the round denied participating at all and another had offered $250 million in ‘marketing credits’ instead of cash. (The lawsuit was later voluntarily dismissed by all parties.) Breslow says that unlike the failed $450 million round, Bolt’s board and a “majority of preferred” shareholders have signed off on the new fundraise.
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