Lyft is out pitching to investors while competitor Uber surrounds itself in controversy.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that they are chatting about a $500 million round. We’re hearing that they are targeting a roughly $6 billion valuation, slightly above the $5.5 billion they were valued at in their last private round.
The timing makes sense given the failed sale process last year, and while its 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.
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.
Lyft has raised about $2 billion in total from a long investor list which includes Andreessen Horowitz, Floodgate and Carl Icahn’s investment team. This pales in comparison to the roughly $13 billion at almost a $70 billion valuation that Uber has generated, but Lyft’s business has been U.S.-centric.
We’ve also been hearing that Lyft casually explored IPO possibilities, but is not yet close to making a decision. If the company does not get acquired for a price that exceeds its latest valuation, then then it would especially make sense for them to go down that path.
Lyft declined to comment.