Wolt is launching the Better Cities Fund to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles

At Wolt, we believe that our mission is to make cities better. That also means taking action to minimize our impact on the planet. In the past, we’ve compensated for the carbon emissions of deliveries made through our platform, but we want to do more.

With almost 80% of Wolt’s carbon emissions coming from the deliveries our courier partners make, using vehicles with a lower emissions footprint is the biggest opportunity for us to live up to our mission to make cities better. That’s why we are now reinvesting 100% of our carbon offset funds into helping courier partners make the switch to electric vehicles in a faster and more affordable way.

Working in partnership with Two Wheel Company and South Pole, Wolt is launching the Better Cities Fund – a financial grant program that gives our courier partners easy access to specially designed electric bicycles and mopeds that are perfect for urban deliveries.

“We are investing in initiatives that will contribute to reducing our carbon footprint globally – and especially locally in the cities that we operate in. Together with our partners, we want to support cities to meet their own climate targets across our markets, and help them create better infrastructure to truly drive sustainable urban mobility forward. The Better Cities Fund is one of our initiatives to help accelerate the shift to electric vehicles,” says Kris Beyens, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Sponsor for Sustainability at Wolt.”

Now introduced in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and Oslo, this program will help remove some of the financial barriers that our courier partners face. In 2024, we’ll start small with about 200 courier partners across the four key cities, but as we learn from this programme, we hope to scale it fast and far.

“At South Pole we work with pioneering companies, and support them to turn their bold ambition into tangible climate action. For years, we have worked with Wolt on climate action beyond their value chain, and now we deepen our collaboration and go straight into their core business: The Better Cities Fund is an innovative program to finance clean modes of transport for their courier partners. We find it remarkable how Wolt embraces the role they play in the urban transport context and uses it to accelerate the shift towards fossil fuel free vehicles,” says Martin Stadelmann, Executive Director for Climate Investments at South Pole.

The first launch events have already taken place in Oslo, Helsinki and Copenhagen and the reception from the courier partners has been overwhelmingly positive.

“The vehicles are perfect also for the Nordic climate and come with monthly service, full risk insurance, and a replacement e-bike should anything happen. We’re excited to be partnering with Wolt!” says CEO Michael Axelsen from Two Wheel Company.