THE NEWS WRAP: Lyft raises an additional $US150 million in funding

Ridesharing service Lyft has raised $US150 million ($A187 million) in funding from serial investor Carl Icahn.

 

The latest capital injection comes off the back of a $US530 million Series E round in March, bringing the amount of capital raised by the startup this year to more than $800 million.

 

Icahn said in a statement he was very happy to be investing in Lyft because he believed very strongly in its team.

 

“I believe that ridesharing is poised to become a fundamental component of our transportation infrastructure,” he said.

 

“The Company’s revenue growth to date has been extremely compelling, and increasing urbanization over the next five to 10 years should enable the company to maintain that trajectory. Additionally, I’ve been very impressed with Lyft’s founders and management team, and I believe they are well-suited to take advantage of this opportunity and to make Lyft an extremely successful company.”

 

Lyft is a competitor of popular ridesharing service Uber, with an Australian launch in the works according to a partner company.

Apple acquires US mapping startup Coherant Navigation

Apple has snapped up San Francisco-based GPS startup Coherant Navigation in a bid to improve the company’s mapping technology.

 

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” a spokesperson told The New York Times.

 

The acquisition is the latest in a string of mapping technology startups bought by the company in recent years.

Payments startup Clinkle in hot water after employees quit in protest

Mobile payments startup Clinkle is in trouble after seven employees walked out on the company due to ongoing frustrations with its 24-year-old chief executive, TechCrunch reports.

 

Clinkle shot into the spotlight in 2013 when it raised $25 million in seed funding from investors such as Peter Thiel and Accel Ventures without a publically available product.

 

The company’s founder and chief executive, Lucas Duplan, has previously fired a string of employees and has reportedly withheld information from employees regarding a potential buyout.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 20.32 points, rising 0.11% to 18,272.56. The Aussie dollar is currently trading at around 80.4 US cents.

 

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