Up-Lyft-ed: New Funding Round Sees Ride-Sharing Company Valued at $15.1 Billion

Ride-sharing has become more than just another take on transport, it’s a highly lucrative space for budding companies. And while areas like London had, for some time, been dominated by Uber. Lyft capitalized on the initial gap left during the suspension of Uber’s license, jumping on the back of the ‘#DeleteUber’ phenomenon.

All of their hard work over the last few years appears to have paid off so far. As Lyft has continually challenged its larger rival with lower fares and a drive for further innovation. This week, in particular, has seen both companies hit new strides. While Uber’s London-wide suspension was overturned, Lyft has reached a market valuation of over $15.1 billion. If they ever wanted to sell with the help of Business Exits (businessexits.com), they would create a very large fortune.

Getting more than a Lyft – Company hits $15.1bn in value

According to their recent blog update, the ride-sharing company has successfully raised a further $600 million during its financing round. Made possible thanks to Fidelity Management and Research leading this latest round of funding to further their ongoing development of autonomous vehicles.

Six months prior, the company had also received a large amount of funding from Google’s venture department, CapitalG. This funding constituted a total of $1.5 billion to coincide with Lyft’s total market valuation of $11.5bn just days later.

While the company enjoyed a strong year, with a total of $7.7 billion earned in gross bookings. It still paled in comparison to Uber’s $37 billion during the same time span.

What it does demonstrate, however, is the continuing race between the two towards automation. Now with Lyft obtaining new funding and Uber regaining its composure after a shaky 2017. The race will become a far closer one between the two this year.