Global investment firm KKR, today announced the closing of a primary investment in Lyft, a ridesharing platform in the U.S. KKR is making the investment through its Next Generation Technology Fund, a fund dedicated to growth equity investment opportunities in the technology, media and telecommunications space.
The investment is part of a $600 million Series G round of funding into the company. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
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“Lyft is fundamentally changing the way people think about car ownership and transportation,” said George Roberts, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of KKR together with Henry Kravis “With ridesharing increasingly in high demand, we are proud to partner with Lyft for their differentiated customer-centric culture, impressive growth strategy and exceptional management team, and to work together to change transportation for the better for both passengers and drivers.”
In a blog post “Taking a Ride with Lyft” KKR explain
Why Lyft and why now?
Because transportation is an indispensable part of everyday life, and the $2 trillion transportation market in the U.S. represents a massive opportunity. Analysts estimate that shared cars accounted for 4% of global miles traveled in 2015 and forecast that number growing to 26% by 2030.
As we surveyed the field for a potential investment, we started with our own experiences. Every ride we requested began with our asking the driver which service they most preferred to drive for. Time and again, the answer was Lyft. We followed this up with our own research and our findings were consistent: Lyft sets itself apart from the competition. The company’s culture is highly customer-centric. One example of this is their recently-announced Round Up & Donate program where passengers can opt in to have their fares rounded up to the nearest dollar, with the difference then being donated to the charity of their choice.
In our analysis, we also saw a mature, focused management team that stands out. We’ve known John Zimmer for almost three years and watched him thoughtfully grow the business and the Lyft team over time. Lyft’s mission is not about being just a good taxi; it is about revolutionizing the way people fundamentally think about car ownership. Their focus on this mission and on offering a quality experience for both passengers and drivers explains why Lyft is now the fastest growing on-demand transportation service in the U.S.
