Lyft Co-Founder: Uber’s Strategy to Contain Us Didn’t Work

Lyft co-founder John Zimmer said Wednesday that his company is having its “best weeks” in the wake of a flurry of criticism over Uber’s stance on privacy–the latest indication that Uber’s aggressive tactics may be backfiring and aiding its competitors.

In an interview with Bloomberg‘s Betty Liu, Zimmer said that Lyft’s rides and revenue have multiplied by five times since the start of 2014, and that the company is having “better and better weeks” in ridership.

Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO said in an interview with Vanity Fair that he sought to hamper Lyft’s fundraising efforts earlier this year. “The strategy didn’t work,” said Zimmer. “We went out to raise $150 million and we raised $250 million.”

Zimmer also said that it has been limiting its employees’ access to personal information. After Uber executives were reported to have tracked individual users’ travel routes, Minnesota Senator Al Franken demanded that Uber and Lyft explain their privacy policies.

Uber was founded three years before Lyft, and with a value of $18.2 billion and a presence in over 200 cities is far larger company than Lyft, which is valued at $700 million.

[Bloomberg]