Unless you have been living under a rock for the past two years, chances are you’ve heard of at least one of the three major ridesharing/Taxi finding apps. There are quite a few of them out there, Uber, Sidecar, GetTaxi, but it is Lyft that has grabbed the most funding of all. In a series D funding round, Lyft managed to grab a total of $250 million for its future growth.
Some of that investment came from sources that had previously funded Lyft, but much of the investment came from Chinese internet giant Alibaba.
Lyft is a ride sharing service. Users use the app to find someone that is willing to take them where they need to go, a car with a pink mustache picks the user up and the user pays the “suggested donation amount” to the driver. It is aimed at people who are more price conscious than Uber users, which sends professional black cars to pick users up. However, Uber recently launched UberX, a service for part-time drivers that charge significantly less, much like Lyft’s offerings.
In an email to Business Insider, Alibaba gave the following statement:
“Lyft is a pioneer in connecting the online world with offline offerings (O2O) and has transformed transportation with its unique approach to ridesharing. We are excited to support the Lyft team as they continue to grow their community.”
This series of funding brings Lyft’s total amount raised in excess of $332 million.
It comes after Alibaba invested $280 million into TangoMe, a messaging app built in California, as well as ShopRunner, an Amazon Prime competitor, and Quixley, a mobile app search engine.
Combining these investments together, one has to assume that Alibaba is making a big push into American marketplaces before posting its Initial Public Offering in the United States later this year.
In the meantimes, hopefully this $250 million cash injection will help bring the service to more areas.
[Photo Credit: Tribute/ Homenaje]
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