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With Uber in utter turmoil at the moment, Lyft is seeking added funding in an effort to choke out their rival once and for all.
The market is constantly a dating to both consumer demands and company supply. There will always be a period of time where a lone wolf is stalking the marketplace and cleaning up thanks to there being no competition. But eventually everyone catches up and things balance out. Often times we see a change atop the leaderboard, something we may be close to seeing in the world of ride sharing.
For years, Uber was the definitive ride sharing pioneer. Like Netflix in the streaming game, Uber took advantage of something we all needed and provided a service that was consumer friendly. The Amazon Prime to Uber’s Netflix is Lyft, and they smell blood in the water for the first time.
Uber is embroiled in controversy and scandal that seems to get worse with every passing week. First it was the idea that Uber was in bed with Donald Trump, then it was allegations of sexual harassment against the CEO.
Lyft is watching while Uber literally turns into the metaphorical evil empire that it’s depicted as in commercials. Seeing that their rival is floundering, the company is looking at ways to increase funding and bury Uber.
According to the New York Times, Lyft is trying to secure new funding to raise it’s profile by about $1 billion, up from the current valuation of $5.5 billion.
Lyft is talking with investors about new fund-raising that would put the company’s value around $6 billion, according to three people briefed on the financing who asked to remain anonymous because the proceedings are confidential. One of the people said the valuation could be as high as $7 billion.
That’s a lot easier said than done, but it does signal that Lyft smells blood in the water and won’t stay away. It’s been a rivalry bubbling below the surface for a while now, but just like how Amazon was able to catch Netflix, Lyft might take it a step further and surpass Uber.
