Lyft plans to launch a roadshow to shine a spotlight on its initial public offering (IPO) starting on March 18. The company will be the first ride-share service to go public with its stock offerings. Lyft filed a draft S-1 with the SEC a few days before Uber’s S-1 filing. They expect an initial valuation of $20 billion to $25 billion in their IPO. Uber expects a $120 billion valuation for its IPO.
Lyft has been around since May 2012, and they’ve raised more than $4.91 billion in venture funding. Its most recent outside funding rally produced a $600 million Series I round, which closed in June 2018. At that point, the company was valued at $15.1 billion.
Industry experts call the company a unicorn because of their fast growth. The ride-hailing company claimed to book more than $1 billion in GAAP revenue during 2017. Revenue growth for Q4 of that year was 168% of the prior year’s quarter.
In 2018, the company’s revenue grew to $909 million, representing a growth rate of more than 120%. By comparison, Uber is growing more slowly, though in larger numbers. The company is worth around 10.6 times its 2018 revenue. They’ve had larger losses and slower overall growth than Lyft, but that’s to be expected since they are a global company.
