The sudden collapse of a transportation startup co-founded by Usain Bolt didn’t simply depart lots of of unusable scooters and e-bikes littered throughout American cities — it additionally left behind a bunch of irate ex-employees who have been left unpaid for months, The Post has discovered.
Bolt Mobility, which was co-founded by the legendary Jamaican sprinter and featured his voice on its e-scooters, went out of enterprise in July after working out of funding. The firm deserted automobiles on the streets of cities together with Portland, Oregon and Burlington, Vermont that turned ineffective as a result of they needed to be unlocked by means of its app.
But it’s not simply the native governments which have to scrub up Bolt’s mess who’re offended — a bunch of ex-employees additionally say the startup withheld their last paychecks for months.
Four former Bolt workers instructed The Post that, previous to the shutdown in July, the firm did not ship out their paychecks for the whole month of June.
Despite the paychecks not coming by means of, the workers say they have been repeatedly assured by Bolt’s management that the disruption was momentary and they’d obtain backpay as quickly as funding got here in from an Indian investor.
The cash by no means materialized and the firm shut down in July, leaving the ex-employees questioning when — if ever — they might get their paychecks.
“Not paying us for the last month of work we did — I consider that to be defrauding the employees,” one former Bolt worker raged. “I’ve been lied to and manipulated.”
“We couldn’t believe that they would just stiff us,” one other ex-employee mentioned. “I feel violated.”
After The Post contacted Bolt for this story, an organization spokesperson mentioned: “Arrangements are already being made to compensate the employees in the next few days.”
Days later, the firm paid out workers. Two ex-employees mentioned they felt Bolt would by no means have paid them in the event that they didn’t take their story to the media, though Bolt insisted that the firm had all the time deliberate to pay them.
‘Revolutionize transportation’
Bolt Mobility was co-founded in 2018 by Usain Bolt and Miami-based entrepreneur Bita Sarah Haynes, with a mission to “revolutionize transportation through safe, smart and sustainable transit solutions.”
The firm’s early backers included Hanyes’ brother, Shervin Pishevar, who made a fortune from early investments in Uber and Airbnb and sat on Bolt’s board. Prior to Bolt, Pishevar sat on the board Virgin Hyperloop, however stepped down in 2017 after he was accused of sexual misconduct. Pishevar denied the accusations at the time and didn’t reply to requests for remark for this story.
While Usain Bolt was listed as a co-founder, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist labored extra as a spokesperson than a decision-making government, sources near the firm mentioned. His involvement included making recordings of his voice that may play by means of the audio system of scooters to offer riders directions. The sprinter additionally visited filmed an commercial to advertise his namesake firm and traveled to New York City corridor in 2019 to induce lawmakers to legalize e-scooters.
“I’m an Olympian so I know about getting around quickly,” the athlete quipped at the time.
But Bolt — to not be confused with an Estonian transportation startup, a San Francisco funds firm and a New York insurance coverage agency that every one share the similar title — was not chosen to take part in New York City’s shared electrical scooter pilot final 12 months. The Department of Transportation granted licenses to 3 rivals — Bird, Lime and Veo — that allowed the corporations to function shared scooters in a number of Bronx neighborhoods.
Bolt ended up shifting its efforts to smaller markets, deploying scooters and e-bikes in cities like Portland, Burlington, St. Augustine, Florida; and Richmond, Virginia.
While Usain Bolt remains to be listed as a co-founder on the firm’s web site, the legendary sprinter stopped showing at Bolt occasions and in extra adverts as a result of the firm was reluctant to pay the look charge that he charged, an organization supply mentioned.
Usain Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms, didn’t reply to requests for remark.
‘Things are starting to burn down’
Bolt began hitting the skids in late 2021, when the firm missed lease funds on its important warehouse in Birmingham, Alabama, one ex-employee mentioned. A sheriff even confirmed as much as the facility with an eviction discover, however administration resolved points with the landlord by February, based on the worker.
In March, Bolt put out a press launch saying it had secured a “strategic investment” from Ram Charan, a chemical firm based mostly in Chennai, India. The corporations didn’t disclose the dimension of the funding, however mentioned it will assist Bolt entry “cutting-edge solid state battery technology.”
But even after the press launch, Bolt appeared to nonetheless be having funding issues, based on ex-employees.
In April, the sheriff confirmed up at the Birmingham warehouse once more and as the firm’s distributors and contractors began complaining about not getting paid, based on the ex-employee. Managers nonetheless assured workers that cash was on the approach.
“The writing’s on the wall,” a former worker mentioned of the temper in April and May. “But there’s always this plausible explanation: ‘The money’s on the way, we’re just waiting to be approved… there were always reassurances.”
‘When a bunch of lawyers get involved’
In June, Bolt missed biweekly payroll twice, inflicting workers to panic. In early July, CEO Ignacio Tzoumas instructed workers the firm was shutting down, however the firm apparently did not notify native officers.
“Unfortunately, Bolt apparently went out of business without prior notification or removal of their capital equipment from city property,” Richmond, California Mayor Tom Butt griped in July. “The City is coming up with a plan to remove all the abandoned equipment.”
Ex-employees say Tzoumas, different executives and Bolt’s board largely went silent after the firm shut down, leaving them questioning if they might ever obtain their again pay.
Meanwhile, native governments and distributors that hadn’t been paid began confiscating Bolt’s tools with the permission of firm executives, ex-employees mentioned.
Tzoumas instructed The Post that Bolt is suing Ram Charan for allegedly backing out of the deal, however refused to supply particulars of the lawsuit. Tzoumas and Bolt didn’t reply detailed questions for this story.
“When it becomes a legal matter you don’t want to really talk about these things because we’re going through legal issues with that investor,” Tzoumas instructed The Post in August, including that his attorneys had instructed him to “not to even call you guys back.”
“This is what happens when a bunch of lawyers get involved, they’re like, ‘Don’t say anything until we get a full understanding of how we’re going to pursue this,’” Tzoumas added. “I just felt like it’s better to communicate what we’re doing than to say absolutely nothing.”
Days later, Tzoumas known as a gathering with workers, the place he urged them to cease talking with The Post and mentioned he would get them their paychecks.
Ram Charan proprietor Kaushik Palicha didn’t reply to emailed questions.