Lyft raises $500M round as Uber struggles
April 7, 2017
Ridehailing company Lyft, the main US rival of Uber, has reportedly closed a $500 million round at a valuation of roughly $7.5 billion, up significantly from a $5.5 billion valuation it received last year. The new funding brings Lyft’s total venture financing to more than $2.5 billion.
Those are impressive numbers, but less so when you consider that Lyft has long been in the shadow of Uber, which has the bigger market share, more rides facilitated and a massive valuation—a reported $68 billion as of August 2016.
Lately, though, things are looking up for Lyft: a recent report revealed that the company is expected to be profitable by 2018, very likely beating Uber in that particular race. Add that to Uber’s ongoing struggles—an incriminating blog post from a former engineer accusing the company of widespread sexual harassment, the resignation of its SVP of engineering and then its president, among other things—and Lyft may be the more attractive option for investors and users alike.
Read more of our autotech coverage here.
Those are impressive numbers, but less so when you consider that Lyft has long been in the shadow of Uber, which has the bigger market share, more rides facilitated and a massive valuation—a reported $68 billion as of August 2016.
Lately, though, things are looking up for Lyft: a recent report revealed that the company is expected to be profitable by 2018, very likely beating Uber in that particular race. Add that to Uber’s ongoing struggles—an incriminating blog post from a former engineer accusing the company of widespread sexual harassment, the resignation of its SVP of engineering and then its president, among other things—and Lyft may be the more attractive option for investors and users alike.
Read more of our autotech coverage here.
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