Lyft Valuation Doubles to $15.1 Billion Over One Year in Battle With Uber

The new round is being led by asset manager Fidelity Investments, which has poured some $800 million into Lyft, and includes hedge fund Senator Investment Group LP and others. The investment should help Lyft keep apace of Uber, which raised $1.25 billion in new capital in January from SoftBank Group Corp. and has said it is planning to seek an IPO in next year's second half. Lyft has weighed its own IPO, according to people familiar with the matter, though it may not beat Uber to the punch. With Uber valued recently at $72 billion as part of a settlement granting equity to Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo, its IPO is likely to be one of the largest in recent memory. Both companies are battling for the future of transportation, investing billions in yet unproven self-driving vehicles and snapping up technology and competitors that offer rentable bicycles and scooters for shorter hops within urban centers.