Jaguar Land Rover invests £19m in Uber rival
Jaguar Land Rover has invested £19m into the US rival of car sharing pioneer Uber as it looks to explore its own mobility options, including autonomous vehicles.
The $25m investment into Lyft has been made through InMotion, JLR’s mobility services business.
Lyft is said to be the fastest-growing rideshare company in the United States and the investment will support its expansion and technological development.
It will also provide JLR’s InMotion Ventures with the opportunity to develop and test its mobility services, including autonomous vehicles, and to supply Lyft drivers with a fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.
Sebastian Peck, managing director, InMotion said: “We are excited to collaborate with a leading platform like Lyft not only on developing premium mobility solutions but also devising innovative solutions to the transport problems Jaguar Land Rover’s customers face.
“Personal mobility and smart transportation is evolving and this new collaborative venture will provide a real-world platform helping us develop our connected and autonomous services.”
The words were echoed by John Zimmer, co-founder and president of Lyft.
He said: “We’re excited to join forces with Jaguar Land Rover and InMotion. Lyft envisions a future where shared mobility will transform cities and improve people’s lives. This partnership will help us achieve that ambitious goal.”
InMotion’s latest investment follows its recent seed investment in SPLT, the Detroit-based digital carpool business, which works with Lyft to provide non-emergency medical transport.
InMotion Ventures was set up by JLR to invest in high-growth companies in the mobility and smart transportation sector.
It invests globally at all stages of development and its London-based seed programme offers pre-seed investment and hands-on support to up to 10 early stage start-ups every year.
Alongside its core investment activity, it also collaborates with JLR to develop new products and services for both new and existing customers.
Lyft was founded in June 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer to mimic the Uber service. It is now the fastest-growing rideshare company in the US and is available in more than 350 cities.
