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Lyft steals a $1bn march on Uber courtesy of Alphabet

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By John Glenday | Reporter

October 20, 2017 | 2 min read

Ride-hailing app Lyft is set to mount a more vociferous challenge against tainted market leader Uber after it successfully raised $1bn in financing in a funding round led by CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth investment fund.

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Lyft steals a $1bn march on Uber courtesy of Alphabet

Following hot on the heels of a successful $600m funding round just six months ago the latest fundraiser leaves Lyft sitting pretty with a market valuation of $11bn, up from $7.5bn before.

Under the terms of the deal, CapitalG partner David Lawee will join Lyft’s board, bringing the number of directors in its leadership team to 10.

Lyft has been steadily deepening ties with Alphabet as it continues its slow but steady expansion, rolling out its services to operate in 41 US states and conducting over 1m rides per day, after striking a partnership agreement with its Waymo self-driving car division.

These moves are serving to further propel Lyft down the road toward an Initial Public Offering although it may now opt to delay going public of it has the cash to continue operating privately.

By contrast Alphabet hasn’t invested in Uber since 2013, coinciding with Uber’s decision to go it alone for its own self-driving car development plans – a decision which came to a head this year when Waymo sued Uber over the alleged theft of trade secrets.

Lyft has employed Jordan Peele and Tilda Swinton for its latest advertising campaign.

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