Network transportation service Lyft Inc. made its way onto the fabled list of Unicorn Companies (that’s companies valued at greater than a billion US dollars) back in December 2015. With nearly three years as the best of the best they are now estimated to have a net worth of $11.5 billion. So how did they get this way, how do they sustain their wealth and what methods can we learn from them? We took a closer look to find out.
Lyft Incorporated
Based in San Francisco, California and founded by Logan Green and John Zimmer in 2012, Lyft features real-time lift sharing as its main product. Producing taxi cabs and hire vehicles via an online service sees them now operating in over 300 cities although unlike their main competitor Uber they have not yet gone as far as global expansion. They are looking to expand into Canada in the coming years but again, this will lead to direct competition with well established rivals Uber.
Users of the Lyft service download the mobile app and enter payment details. They then request a cab and are given the opportunity to choose from the best rated drivers nearby. Their service allows you to dismiss drivers you do not want to use and also to leave positive or negative reviews based on your experience. They have a high focus on safety and are currently developing a similar platform for healthcare services.
Lyft actually developed as a result of the co-founder’s former company; Zimride. Original investors included Andreessen Horowitz, CapitalG and the Mayfield fund. They later sold Zimride to Enterprise Rent-A-Car and transferred completely to Lyft. They uses a P2P business model that has risen in success alongside the growth of online sharing and the popularity of social media networking. This is an example of the right idea at the right time, and Lyft has become thoroughly established in the US. The only complaint anyone has is that they are exclusive to the USA. Should they moved towards global expansion they would smash their current worth to pieces.
List of Services
Lyft don’t just operate an online taxi service, they offer a few other services too:
- A ride sharing function that allows you to split costs.
- Lyft XL – is the service that provides larger vehicles for more passengers.
- Lux – gives a luxury vehicle.
- Lux Black brings a luxury black vehicle.
- Lux Black XL provides and extra large black vehicle.
- Rating service and online platform.
- Future investments into the healthcare sector with similar goals.
- A 24/7 help portal for those experiencing issues.
Lyft is an all-American company that has grown past the unicorn stage and is securing its future by crossing sectors. Should it continue to provide optimum services by using the same P2P business model then we should see apt growth in the future.
Further information
Should you wish to contact Lyft or learn more about this company you can do so by following this link to their website.
