Authentic Brands sues Payment Startup Bolt

Payment startup, Bolt Financial Inc has been sued by its most prominent customer, Authentic Group. In its complaint, Authentic Brands Group alleged that the payment startup not only failed to deliver promised technology but that during Bolt’s integration with Forever 21, the brand in its online sales lost out on more than $150 million. Authentic Brands in its complaint further stated that Bolt raised funding at increasingly high valuations by “consistently overstating” the nature of its integration with ABG’s brands to indicate that it had more customers than it actually did. The allegations create major new uncertainty for Bolt Financial because its business depends on having a large network of customers.

Recently, investors valued the payment startup at $11 billion. In a filing Bolt responded to the complaint filed against it by ABG. Bolt Financial told that ABG’s claims are without merit, and are “a transparent attempt” to renegotiate the terms of the companies’ agreements. In a statement, Bolt’s Chief Executive Officer Maju Kuruvilla said, “We love all of our customers and we are thankful for the wonderful partnership with Forever21 and Lucky. It’s clear that Authentic Brands Group has confidence in Bolt's future as they are fighting to own a meaningful percentage of our business.”