UPDATE 5/10 10:20 a.m.: Lyft introduced its own version of surge pricing, called Prime Time Tips, in late 2013.
Ridesharing service Lyft is assembling a massive round of Series D funding worth $150 million.
Documents filed last Thursday revealed that the company has raised $80 million so far from a number of VCs, including Silicon Valley's Andreesen Horowitz. According to re/code, Lyft plans to raise another $70 million before closing the round.
The round is supposed to give Lyft a pre-money valuation of $700 million, according to re/code's source, which is far lower than others familiar with the transaction had anticipated.
Black car service competitor Uber, on the other hand, has a valuation of $3.5 billion. The company, which raised a $361.2 million round led by Google Ventures in August, competes directly with Lyft through its UberX service, which employs private drivers with their own cars to effectively serve as cabs at a lower rate.
A big difference between Uber and Lyft's services is that the latter doesn't enforce surge pricing – a perk that, after Uber's sky-high rates this winter, might increasingly prioritize.
It's been just a year and a half since Lyft's pink mustached cars have been cruising around major U.S. cities, including Boston. The company has raised $82.5 million to date. Lyft's most recent round, worth $60 million, took place in late May 2013.
Image via SFBay
