Ridesharing startup and Uber Inc. competitor Lyft Inc. is said to have raised a $530 million Series E in a round led by Rakuten Inc. that included Fortress Investment Group.

The Wall Street Journal reported the round was based on a $2.5 billion valuation.

Founded in 2012, Lyft offers a ridesharing service that aims to differentiate itself by being more customer friendly than Uber, and therefore building more customer loyalty, or what one venture capitalist compared to building a Virgin America or Southwest Airlines, both smaller companies that have happy, loyal customers.

Lyft is currently operating in 65 cities in the United States and is said to be considering its first foreign expansion later this year, most likely into Asia. An expansion into the growing Asian markets would also make a lot of sense given that along with Japanese e-commerce giant Rukuten, one of Lyft’s other major investors is China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Although most would immediately think of Uber first when considering ridesharing services, Lyft has often beaten Uber to market, entering the carpooling space first with Lyft Line.

Uber is still the 500 pound gorilla in the room when it comes to the rideshare marketplace; Uber is in 292 cities compared to Lyft’s 65 and has raised a staggering $5.9 billion to-date. That said the concept of building customer loyalty and offering a superior, and yet competitively priced service, versus Uber’s expand as quickly as possible, allow rapists and other criminals to drive cars, and break as many possible laws along the way offering might just work for Lyft, and besides, who doesn’t like an underdog?

The new round brings Lyft’s total funding to-date to $862.5 million over 8 rounds. Along with new investors Rakuten and Fortress Investment Group, and the previously mentioned Alibaba, other investors include Melo7 Tech Partners, GSV Capital, Queens Bridge Venture Partners, Coatue Management, Mayfield Fund, Founders Fund and others.

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