Alphabet Leads $1 Billion Investment in Lyft

Lyft Inc. says it has raised $1 billion in a funding round led by Alphabet Inc.’s investment unit, CapitalG that values the ride-share startup at $11 billion.

Sources told Bloomberg News in September that Alphabet was considering the investment. Last year the two companies informally discussed a possible Lyft acquisition by Alphabet.

Alphabet was an early investor in Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft’s primary competitor. But the two companies have been fighting in court for months over charges that a former employee of Alphabet’s Waymo unit stole autonomous-vehicle technology before joining Uber’s self-driving-car project.

Bloomberg notes that Lyft could use its new cash infusion to venture into markets outside the U.S. or bolster its domestic operations. The San Francisco-based company says its service now reaches 95% of the U.S. population, up from 54% in January.

Lyft has enjoyed rapid growth at the expense of Uber, which has been struggling all year with legal problems, the exodus of several top executives and the toxic effects of a confrontational corporate culture encouraged by founder and CEO Travis Kalanick. Uber’s board ousted Kalanick in June.