Lyft Reportedly Targeting $6 Billion Valuation With $500 Million Funding Round
Lyft is targeting a roughly $6 billion valuation with a new $500 million funding round, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and others. That would put the company’s valuation somewhat above where it is “now” — the last private funding round saw a company valuation around $5.5 billion.
Notably, this is well below competitor Uber’s $70 billion valuation or the $13 billion that company has raised to date (Lyft has to date raised around $2 billion, with the money coming from: GM, Andreessen Horowitz, Floodgate, and Carl Icahn’s investment group).
It should be remembered, of course, that Lyft has been mostly focused on the US, whereas Uber has been expanding aggressively in many other countries as well.
Tech Crunch provides more: “The timing makes sense given the failed sale process last year, and while it’s likely coincidental, it won’t hurt that Uber is in the midst of a never-ending PR nightmare. Lyft has often been branded as the underdog and the friendlier of the two companies.”
As you may have read, this slightly more human and driver-preferred image is something that seems to have matched the experience of our Uber- and Lyft-driving writer.
Back to the finances: “It’s been a little over a year since Lyft raised its $1 billion round from General Motors, but at the rate on-demand companies burn through capital, it never hurts to have more money in their coffers. The Information reported that the company lost $600 million last year after generating $700 million in revenue.”
There’s also the possibility, though, that Lyft may do an IPO. Rumors on that count have been swirling around for a while, but nothing solid has emerged as of yet.
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