Uber competitor Lyft has received a $500 million investment from General Motors that now values the company at approximately $5.5 billion. It comes as part of a $1 billion fundraising effort by Lyft.
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In the future, the Lyft vehicle that picks you up could have an empty driver’s seat, thanks to a $500 million investment from GM. Longer term, the two companies will work together to develop a fleet of autonomous vehicles that city dwellers could summon using a mobile app.
Recently, Toyota and Ford said that they would adopt the same software to link smartphone apps to vehicle dashboard screens, and Ford also teamed up with Google to manufacture self driving cars.
Other investors in the funding round included Asian e-commerce companies Rakuten and Alibaba, as well as Chinese taxi service Didi Kuaidi. Lyft is now valued at $5.5 billion.
From left to right: Logan Green, chief executive of Lyft; Daniel Ammann, president of General Motors; and John Zimmer, president of Lyft. The company expects revenue of around $1 billion this year. “We think our business and personal mobility will change more in the next five years than the last 50”, said Ammann. Those vehicles will tap into GM’s OnStar service, while GM and Lyft promised “personalized mobility services and experiences”, but did not elaborate. Neither company offered a timetable for when this might be available, except to say that their agreement is a “long-term strategic alliance”.
Major auto manufacturers are now trying to prevent Silicon Valley from dominating the future of self-driving cars and ride-sharing.
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Lyft is the fastest-growing rideshare platform in the United States, completing 7 million rides per month in more than 190 cities.
