SAN FRANCISCO — In the topsy-turvy world of tech, an investor can fund a company one minute and sue it the next. It also can turn around and fund a competitor, which is what Google’s parent company did when it announced Thursday that its growth equity fund led a $1 billion investment in Lyft, four years after its venture capital arm invested in Uber.
The injection of cash increased Lyft’s valuation to $11 billion, up from around $7.5 billion in April when it last raised $500 million from unnamed investors, and up further still from its $5.5 billion valuation last year.
As part of the deal, David Lawee — a partner at Alphabet’s CapitalG growth equity fund — will join Lyft’s board of directors.
“CapitalG is honored to work with Lyft’s compelling founders and strong leadership team,” Lawee said in a statement. “Ridesharing is still in its early days and we look forward to seeing Lyft continue its impressive growth.”