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Lyft picks up two startups to fuel ride-hailing growth
Lyft Inc. is putting the pedal to the metal on its marketing efforts.
This morning, the ride-sharing giant revealed that it has acquired two startups focused on user acquisition. The first is YesGraph Inc., a Y Combinator graduate that was founded in 2012 by former Dropbox Inc. executive Ivan Kirigin. It offers a cloud-based tool for managing online referral programs.
YesGraph can inspect the contacts in a user’s address book, filter individuals who have already signed up for a given service and recommend who should be invited based on how likely they are to sign up. It’s accessible through a programming interface that is designed to be easily plugged into different kinds of applications.
YesGraph has been adopted by technology firms such as Airbnb Inc., Atlassian Inc. and Gusto Inc., which means that the service likely already meets many of Lyft’s internal technical standards. The integration process can be expected to go fairly smoothly as a result. The ride-hailing giant said that acquisition will support its Driver Referral Program, a key source of growth.
DataScore Inc., the other company that Lyft picked up today, is intended to help drive user adoption as well. The San Francisco-based firm had until now provided marketing consulting and campaign management services to startups.
A Lyft spokesperson told VentureBeat that about 25 people will be brought aboard through the two deals. They should help boost the already impressive growth that the company has seen against the backdrop of Uber Technologies Inc.’s highly publicized controversies, which are taking their toll on its public image. Lyft among other boasts of expanding to over 160 cities in past year and claims to serve more than a million rides per day.
Alongside the push to enhance marketing efforts, the company is also pursuing more ambitious initiatives as part of its growth plan. Lyft recently launched a new research group that will develop navigation technology for autonomous vehicles. Its goal is to let users choose between hailing cars driven by humans and artificial intelligence.
Image: Spur
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