App-based ride-hailing company Lyft to raise $1 billion in new financing.
Ride-hailing company Lyft is hitting the gas to better compete with its largest U.S. rival, Uber.
Lyft, Inc. plans to raise up to $1 billion in new financing, according to a Delaware state filing. The money would boost the transportation company’s valuation to between $3.9 billion and $4.5 billion. In March, when a previous funding round was announced, the 3-year-old firm was valued at $2.5 billion.
Lyft hasn’t commented on the filing, said how much has been raised or who is investing in the round. But it’s clear the smartphone-based ride service isn’t content to let the much larger Uber, with a valuation of $62.5 billion, rule the road.
In September, San Francisco-based Lyft formed an alliance with ride-hailing company Didi Kuaidi, Uber’s top competition in China. The partnership gave Lyft a much-needed overseas presence and Didi Kuaidi greater fighting power against Uber.
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Then, in early December, Lyft expanded its international footprint by partnering with Ola, a large ride-hailing service in India, and GrabTaxi, which operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. As part of the partnerships, passengers can use all platforms to call a ride when they travel between the United States and Asia.
Investors have been eager to put their money behind ride-hailing companies, suggesting that the potential for these novel concepts could grow far beyond the act of calling for a ride. Uber, which operates in about 58 countries and 300 cities, already has been testing food and package delivery services and driverless car technology.
Meanwhile, Lyft, which is available in about 150 U.S. cities, has focused on competing with Uber and expanding to domestic and international cities.
In May, billionaire investor Carl Icahn invested $100 million to help win market share from Uber, saying that ride-sharing services are poised to become a “fundamental component of our transportation infrastructure.”
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