US-based ride hailing service Lyft – which counts as previous backers a host of corporates including automotive manufacturer General Motors (GM), diversified internet company Alphabet, e-commerce companies Alibaba and Rakuten as well as auto parts manufacturer Magna International – closed a $600m round. The transaction reportedly valued Lyft at $15.1bn post-money. The valuation is a sizeable jump from a reported $11.7bn valuation at which Magna International invested $200m earlier this year.
Founded in 2012, Lyft operates a cab hailing app similar to competitor Uber’s, aiming to make up for its smaller market share and funding size by positioning itself as a more customer-friendly and fun alternative. It had more than 610,000 daily active drivers across the US and Canada as of the end of 2017
The new $600m round was led by financial services group Fidelity Management and Research. It took the company’s overall equity funding to $5bn, as the chart generate by GCV Analytics shows. Fidelity also participated in a $1.5bn round, which took place in December last year, along with Rakuten.
