Even though Uber is looked at as one of the key ride sharing facilities being offered in almost all the countries in world, not many know about Lyft. With a revenue of over $ 700 million as of the 2016 financial year, Lyft secured the second position for itself in this particular section, standing neck to neck with Uber. With an extremely impressive marketing strategy and a plan that surprised everyone since the moment of its launch, Lyft has seen major growth from its inception to date.
The origin of Lyft
Lyft was initially known as a Zimride and was founded by Logan Green and John Zimmer in the year 2007. The two met through a common friend, when John Zimmer posted on the said friend’s wall, saying he was looking for opportunities in the ride sharing business for long trips. Logan Green’s interest was immediately aroused and he knew he could not sleep till he contacted Logan.
When the two started working together, the first thing they did was to create a business model for Lyft. Green and Logan decided Lyft would be the go to service for people looking at sharing rides when they were travelling out of town. People would hire drivers to use their cars to transport them to their destination and after the drive was completed, riders would automatically be debited for their journey. 80% of the money would go to the person doing the driving while the rest was allocated for Lyft.
Initially, Logan and Zimmer introduced Lyft as a subsidiary of Zimride, without giving it a complete identity. However, looking at the rising popularity of a car service as this, the two founders dropped Zimride altogether and Lyft was the only service they marketed in the year 2013.
The reason for Lyft’s popularity
One of the major reasons Lyft became so immensely popular was that not only did the founders create a new ride sharing format, they also encouraged community building. Drivers were asked to put fuzzy mustaches on the front of their cars while riders were encouraged to sit in the front with the drivers. This method was not used by Uber so far and because of this unique ride sharing concept, Lyft took off with unexpected popularity.
Growing everyday, Lyft became so popular that by the year 2017, the service announced it would be adding a further 100 cities of the United States to its continuously growing roster. In an industry that was for so long dominated by classic styles and clean cuts, Lyft made a splash with its shiny cars and bright logos.
From changing the way people drove around to turning ride sharing into a community affair rather than just another app like Uber, Lyft has created a niche for itself in this sector. Despite facing several regulations and restrictions just like its contemporaries, Lyft has managed to grow through the years and turned into a billion dollar company not through luck but through its no nonsense and purely business attitude!
While the bright pink mustache may have disappeared from Lyft’s logo, it still plays an integral part in the journey of this innovative ride sharing service. From introducing female drivers for the first time in this field to becoming a unique community, Lyft has really lifted the way people share rides!
MobiKwik is venturing into the stock broking sector with the launch of its subsidiary, MobiKwik Securities Broking Private Limited (MSBPL), following approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 3, 2025. This move aims to diversify MobiKwik’s offerings beyond its core digital payments services and compete with established players like Zerodha and Groww.
MSBPL will provide a range of brokerage services, including trading in shares, securities, commodities, and derivatives. The subsidiary has an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh, with plans for an additional Rs 2 crore investment to support its operations.
As MobiKwik enters this competitive market, it brings a substantial user base of 172 million and a merchant network of 5 million. Despite recent financial challenges, including a reported loss of Rs 55.2 crore in Q3 FY25, the company aims to leverage its existing infrastructure and user engagement to capture a share of the growing investment technology market, projected to reach $74 billion by 2030.
This strategic expansion aligns with MobiKwik’s broader goals of enhancing its financial service
Nazara Technologies has sold its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity Private Limited, the company behind the multiplayer quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 lakh. This divestment, effective March 25, 2025, signifies a strategic shift for Nazara, which had previously acquired a controlling interest in Sports Unity in 2019 for INR 7.5 crore.
The decision to offload the stake comes as Sports Unity has faced financial difficulties, reporting no active business operations and a negative net worth of INR 0.45 crore at the end of FY24. This move aligns with Nazara’s broader strategy to streamline its operations and concentrate on more profitable ventures within the gaming sector.
This sale follows Nazara’s recent divestment of a 94.85% stake in another subsidiary, Open Play, to Moonshine Technologies for INR 104.33 crore. Despite reporting record quarterly revenue of INR 544.7 crore in Q3 FY25, Nazara experienced a 53.5% decline in net profit year-over-year.
Nazara continues to focus on enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and investments in high-potential gaming platforms while navigating the competitive landscape of the gaming industry.
Hypergro.ai, a Bengaluru-based marketing technology startup, has raised Rs 7 crore in seed funding led by Silverneedle Ventures, with participation from Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, FiiRE, and angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Rituraj Biswas, Neha Soman, Abhijeet Kumar, and Arijit Mukhopadhyay, the company aims to revolutionize digital marketing by addressing challenges like high Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and low Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
The startup leverages AI to create hyper-personalized video ads using user-generated content (UGC). The fresh capital will be used to enhance Hypergro.ai’s AI capabilities, expand operations, and build a specialized team focusing on data analysis, predictive algorithms, and automation.
Since its inception, Hypergro.ai has collaborated with over 70 brands, including several from Shark Tank India. The company’s innovative approach has led to its selection for Google’s Startups Accelerator: AI First (India) program in July 2024, providing access to critical training, mentorship, and state-of-the-art AI tools.
Hypergro.ai’s platform now supports a community of over 300,000 creators across India and has partnered with more than 100 brands, significantly enhancing its AI model’s accuracy and improving revenue generation for clients. As it continues to expand and refine its AI-powered marketing solutions, Hypergro.ai is set to transform the digital advertising landscape, offering businesses more effective and efficient customer acquisition and engagement strategies.