The Usain Bolt-associated Bolt Mobility electric scooter rental start-up has secured $30 million in Series A funding.

The deal comes as e-scooters expand rapidly in major metropolitan areas — including in South Florida. This relatively new concept is seen as a viable transportation option to avoid gridlocked roads.

The Miami Beach-based company will be using the funds secured to expand its growing operations, in which the Jamaican world-record-holding Olympic runner, Usain Bolt has a sizable equity interest.

The Jamaican sprinting legend is not just an equity partner but is also a part of the leadership team.

The financing has been secured from Miami-based venture capital firm, Rokk3r Fuel ExO, which will helping to boost Bolt Mobility’s expansion.

The company also brought on Ed Welburn, former VP of General Motors Global design, as an advisor to the company.

Commenting on the funding deal, Bolt Mobility CEO Julia Steyn reports that “in securing Series A funding and bringing Ed Welburn on board as an advisor, Bolt Mobility is getting the resources and expertise it needs to both scale and advance our mission of bringing simple, efficient transport solutions to populations around the world”.

The start-up company is going up against major players in the transport market in Miami including Santa Monica-based Bird, which operates in 100 cities; Uber-owned e-scooter companies Lime and Jump, and many more.

Miami recently extended its citywide pilot programme for e-scooters amid controversy. In addition to Bolt Mobility, there are eight other e-scooter vendors operating in Miami. They are Baus, Bird, Helbiz, Jump, Lime, Lyft, Spin and Wheels.

Founded in 2018, Bolt Mobility is competing for a share of the rapidly growing e-scooter market which is projected to expand to US$41.98 billion in value by 2030 globally, from US$18.6 billion last year. These numbers are based on a February report from Grand View Research, which did an extensive research on the e-scooter market globally.