Bolt CEO Markus Villig Bolt

Uber's European rival Bolt is now taking it on in the streets of London. The Estonian ride-hailing company formerly known as Taxify announced its launch in the U.K.'s capital city Tuesday. It joins a growing list of start-ups trying to take market share from Uber in the London metropolitan area. "We see this as quite a monumental thing for both the company and the ride-hailing industry as a whole," Bolt CEO Markus Villig told CNBC in an interview. "London is one of the biggest, most profitable markets for Uber globally and one where it didn't have a serious competitor." Villig, who founded the company in 2013, said more than 20,000 drivers have already signed up with Bolt ahead of Tuesday's launch. There were an estimated 87,900 private hire vehicles licensed in London as of March 2018, according to the Department for Transport.