Lyft: On track to $1 billion in Annual Revenue

Not too shabby for a company with a fraction of Uber’s $51 billion valuation (Lyft is now valued at $2.5 billion). The alliance, which goes into effect early next year, lets you pay in your native currency on each app to avoid having to pay for your Didi or Lyft ride in a foreign currency, depending on where you live. Zimmer, along with bankers from Credit Suisse, met with investors in Hong Kong and Beijing about the funding round recently, said a person briefed on the meeting who requested not to be named.

Lyft, the ride-hailing service often overshadowed by the larger Uber, has been making steady gains in the shadows. So far, the tempo of fund-raising for technology start-ups has remained brisk, according to CB Insights, a venture investment tracking firm.

“What we’re finding is across the country, 20 percent of rides start and stop with public transit…”

The phenomenon has exploded in popularity. The company’s current valuation is at about $50 billion and is available in over 300 cities in the USA, making it the largest ride-hailing app available.

While much fanfare is being made today about Uber delivering (not puppies… not ice cream… but…) flu shots to customers today, most news pieces about Lyft from the past week have reported and speculated on various facts and figures surrounding the company’s financials.

But analysts are saying that the company has not recorded $1 billion in gross revenue; but, instead it reached that point on a run-rate basis, meaning that the company’s October gross revenue, times 12 would equal to at least $1 billion.

At the Robin Hood Investors Conference in NY on Tuesday, Lyft said it expected to generate about $US1 billion in annualised gross revenue next year, a figure that does not account for the cut of money the drivers take from each transaction.

A few of Uber’s skyrocketing valuation rests in its potential to be a major player in on-demand food and retail delivery, an area in which start-ups like Postmates and Instacart are trying to compete. Uber is testing its delivery services in several cities, but has not rolled it out widely across the world. Much of the recent success is attributed to Lyft Line, a service in which customers share rides (and costs) with others traveling in the same direction. Almost half the Uber rides taken in San Francisco are shared UberPool rides, the company has said.

The San Francisco company, known for its glowing pink mustache, is on track to bring in $1 billion in gross revenue by year’s end, according to Lyft co-founder and President John Zimmer.

Lyft has more than a 40 percent market share in San Francisco, its hometown, and in Austin, Texas, Zimmer said.

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