It’s an all-Lyft weekly update this week! Lots of good news on the Lyft front, including how quickly Lyft is capitalizing on Uber’s stumbles and gaining traction. Could Lyft overtake Uber? We’re far from that for now, but this week’s round up gives us a lot to consider! Today, senior RSG contributor John Ince covers all the latest Lyft news, including a new investment, new VP, and new partnership with medical transport.
Lyft gets an investment — from an Uber investor [Recode]
Sum and Substance: A large Uber shareholder has made an investment in chief U.S. rival Lyft, part of the latest twist in the entangled web of ride-sharing deals. Lyft said on Tuesday that Fidelity, the giant mutual fund, would participate in an expanded financing round that now values the company at $11.5 billion. The round, led by Alphabet affiliate CapitalG, was previously only expected to collect $1 billion; it now stands to raise $1.5 billion. Shareholders typically try to avoid conflicts of interest in their investments, but when it comes to Uber and Lyft it seems like all’s fair. Alphabet, for example, is also invested in both Uber and Lyft. Fidelity declined to comment.
Uber is itself preparing to take on at least $1 billion in new investment from the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. SoftBank has threatened to also invest in Lyft if it is unable to close its Uber investment. Axios earlier reported the expanded financing round.
My Take: With this investment, we can see just how dramatically this competitive landscape has changed in just about a year. Twelve months ago, Uber was valued at $70 billion and Lyft was valued at about $6 billion, or roughly a 10:1 size differential. Today that ratio is about 5:1, with Uber valued at $50 billion in the Softbank deal, and Lyft valued at $11.5 billion.
In other words, Lyft has taken advantage of Uber’s scandal big time in finances. With this kind of momentum, and big backers like Google Ventures and Fidelity now, Lyft is poised to make a major run at supremacy in this field. What a difference a year makes.
Lyft is now offering self-driving car trips in Boston [The Verge]
Sum and Substance: Lyft’s first self-driving car pilot is officially underway. The company is sending autonomous vehicles — developed by the startup NuTonomy — to pick up passengers in Boston’s Seaport district, which is a growing tech hub. The cars are not completely driverless, as human safety drivers will remain behind the wheel, ready to take control when needed. But it’s a big moment for Lyft, which has seen its star rise this year as its main rival Uber was beset by numerous self-inflicted scandals.
Here’s how it works: riders will randomly be paired with one of NuTonomy’s self-driving cars when they use the Lyft app in the Seaport area. NuTonomy, which spun out of MIT in 2013 and was recently purchased by automotive supplier Delphi, has been operating self-driving cars in Boston since January.
The company has been testing in Boston’s Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, a small industrial zone that doesn’t fully represent the kinds of environments a driver would encounter around the city. “Our partnership with Lyft has two goals,” NuTonomy says in a blog post. “First, we want to let members of the public experience driverless vehicles firsthand, so they can better understand the impact this new technology will have on their lives. Second, based on feedback from pilot participants, NuTonomy’s engineers will adapt and improve our system, so that we can deliver an autonomous transportation experience that is extremely safe, efficient, and comfortable.”
NuTonomy isn’t the only self-driving company to team up with Lyft. The ride-hail company is working with Drive.ai to deploy autonomous taxis in San Francisco, and also has agreements with Ford and Alphabet’s Waymo. Lyft is trying to catch up to the self-driving efforts of rival Uber, which is operating its own autonomous taxis in Pittsburgh and Phoenix.
My Take: Once again, Lyft appears to have outsmarted Uber. By adopting a patient, cooperative attitude with local regulatory bodies, they’ve gotten approval to transport passengers in driverless cars in a major U. S. city. By doing so, they’ve seized the PR initiative away from Uber and other competitors in this space.
It will be interesting to get passenger reactions. Having lived in the Boston area, I can testify to the challenges of driving in Beantown – from roundabouts to crazy drivers. Lyft frames this as an experiment to further refine the technology. Stay tuned.
Circulation and Lyft Partner for Non-Emergency Medical Transportation [Businesswire]
Sum and Substance: Circulation, the pioneer in on-demand non-emergency healthcare transportation, today announced a partnership with Lyft, the fastest growing rideshare company in the US. This partnership will expand non-emergency transportation options for Circulation’s clients nationwide, which currently number more than 1,000 healthcare facilities.
Starting today, all Circulation users can schedule Lyft rides directly through Circulation’s on-demand patient-centric digital transportation platform. “Transportation should be the last thing people need to worry about when getting to healthcare appointments. That’s why partnering with Circulation, an organization that is centered around patient convenience and simplicity, is a natural fit with our mission to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation,” said Gyre Renwick, Vice President of Lyft Business. “Circulation seamlessly connects to Lyft’s API, making it easy for health facilities to request a Lyft ride when they need one. Together, we’re working to remove transportation barriers that previously stood in the way of getting people the care they need.”
My Take: I’ve never been a fan of people using Uber and Lyft for emergency situations. I’ve had several, including one life threatening situation where a woman had a bleeding wrist and needed transportation to the emergency room. Drivers are not trained for such situations, and it raises all kinds of legal, practical and ethical issues.
But non-emergency medical transportation makes a world of sense. By partnering with Circulation here, Lyft has expanded it reach into yet another market niche. How many of you drivers have been thrust into medical situations – emergency or non emergency? What’s your take on this phenomenon?
Lyft hires first-ever VP of corporate development and investor relations [Techcrunch]
Sum and Substance: Following Lyft’s recent $1.5 billion funding round, the company has decided to bring on board Kristina Omari as its first-ever vice president of corporate development and investor relations as it continues to grow. Omari also happens to now be the highest ranking black female executive at Lyft.
Lyft, according to its June 2017 diversity report, has a leadership team that is just one percent black. Leadership includes managers who have direct reports. In taking a closer look at its EEO-1 report from 2016, Lyft had zero black women in management roles. Of the 54 black women Lyft employed at the time of the report, only 10 were professionals while 44 were in administrative support jobs. Omari, however, is not the only black woman in a management role or higher, a Lyft spokesperson told TechCrunch.
“I’m thrilled to be part of this incredible team and mission,” Omari said in a statement. “Lyft has had an amazing year, and I can’t wait to help the company continue delivering for passengers and drivers.” Omari was most recently VP of corporate development at Fitbit and co-founder of diversity and inclusion non-profit organization BuildUp….
My Take: Looks like Lyft is also preparing for an IPO with this hire. They appear to be ahead of Uber in that process as Uber has yet to fill their vacant CFO position. It’s been well over a year, which is a long, long time for a position that important to be unfilled.
Readers, what do you think of this week’s round up? Have you ever transported a rider during an emergency? Let us know in the comments.
-John @ RSG
