Lyft has acquired the parent company behind some of the largest bike-sharing organizations in the country, including Divvy in Chicago.
Lyft announced Monday that it has acquired Motivate, the bike-sharing giant that operates Divvy, as well as Citi Bike in New York and GoBike in San Francisco.
Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but the deal was reportedly rumored to be worth around $250 million when news of Lyft's acquisition interest broke last month. The news comes just months after Lyft's rival Uber acquired electric bike-sharing company Jump in April for around $200 million. Jump began servicing Chicago's South Side on Monday as part of the city's bike-sharing pilot program.
“Lyft and Motivate have both been committed for years to the same goal of reducing the need for personal car ownership by providing reliable and affordable ways to move around our cities,” John Zimmer, Lyft co-founder and president, said in a statement. “Bringing together Lyft and Motivate will accelerate our collaboration with cities and deliver even better experiences to our passengers and riders.”
Lyft said that in 2017, 80 percent of all bike-sharing trips in the country were provided by Motivate, though its marketshare has likely fallen somewhat as companies like Lime, Ofo, Pace and others have brought bike-share services to more cities across the U.S.
Venture capitalists have poured millions into bike and scooter-sharing companies in recent months. Lime has raised more than $380 million in funding, and Bird, an electric scooter company, just raised $300 million at a $2 billion valuation.
As part of the deal, Lyft said it's acquiring Motivate’s technology and corporate functions, including its city contracts. Motivate’s bike maintenance and servicing operations will remain a standalone business and retain the Motivate name, the company said.
Motivate also owns Blue Bikes in Boston, Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C., BIKETOWN in Portland, CoGo in Columbus, and Nice Ride in Minneapolis.
