Uber’s rival Lyft raises $1 billion in funding round led by Google’s parent Alphabet

Alphabet has also been an investor in Uber since 2013 through its venture capital arm GV.
Uber’s rival Lyft raises $1 billion in funding round led by Google’s parent Alphabet
Uber’s rival Lyft raises $1 billion in funding round led by Google’s parent Alphabet
Written by:

One of Uber’s largest rivals Lyft has raised an investment of $1 billion in a financing round led by CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth investment fund. According a statement from the company, this brings Lyft’s post-money valuation to $11 billion. CapitalG’s Partner David Lawee will be joining Lyft’s Board.  

Lyft claims to have completed its 500 millionth ride earlier in October and has expanded its presence to cover 95% of the US population where it competes with Uber.

As per a Bloomberg report, the freshly raised funds will help Lyft gain a significant share of the market in the US.

This comes at a time when rival Uber is fighting a lawsuit against Alphabet over the latter’s driverless vehicle technology.

Bloomberg report states that the funding round marks a major shift in Alphabet’s allegiances away from Uber, thus suggesting a tighter pairing of its autonomous vehicle technology with Lyft’s transportation network.

Interestingly, Alphabet also invested in Uber and has been an investor since 2013 through its venture capital arm GV. But the relationship severed as Uber started working on self-driving cars in competition with Waymo. Alphabet went on to sue Uber for stealing its autonomous vehicle trade secrets, which is set to go to court in December.

This large round of financing could be a blow for Uber, even as it is in talks to raise a major investment from SoftBank. Due to the turmoil Uber went through that led to the exit for founder Travis Kalanick, Lyft was able to race ahead and capture a significant part of the market in the US.

Lyft last raised funds in April when large global investment funds invested $600 million in the company, valuing Lyft at $7.5 billion. This is up from $5.5 billion valuation it last stood at from the previous round of funding last year.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com