Nowadays, it’s hard to find more exuberant sharing-economy enthusiasts than investors. Uber, the ride-hailing company, is raising $1.5 billion at a valuation of $50 billion — theoretically making the six-year-old business the equal of Target and Kraft Foods. Airbnb, for home sharing, is valued at $20 billion. Uber competitor Lyft is valued
Uber is reportedly raising money at a $50 billion valuation, which would put it among the largest 500 companies by market cap globally. Airbnb, meanwhile, would be almost as big as Marriott if it raises money at the $20 billion valuation it is reportedly seeking. at $2.5 billion. Instacart, for grocery delivery, is valued at $2 billion and Postmates, another delivery service, is valued at $150 million to $200 million.
Companies say rapid growth supports the valuations. Airbnb claims more than 35 million guests since it launched in 2008 and 1.2 million listings; more than 600 are castles. Dogs can share homes too, on DogVacay, with 20,000 sitters on its platform. It’s hard to figure out if revenue is growing as rapidly at these closely held companies, but a leaked Lyft fundraising document showed that the company took in about $140 million in 2014.
click for ginormous graphic
via Bloomberg Briefs
I see irrational exuberance… and a crash to follow.
“June 2015: The FTC hosts a workshop to study competition and consumer protection issues raised by sharing businesses.”
Really:
Captured regulators brainstorm strategies to protect entrenched interests from encroaching competitors. Special attention will be given to creation of fear, uncertainty and doubt.
I still can’t tell who’s more furious, nibbled service providers or subeverted tax collectors.
well its not like the consumer doesnt have any thing to worry about in the sharing economy. after all, being picked up by who knows, and in a vehicle that nobody knows the safety of, isnt a concern of theirs right? and if some thing were to go wrong, there would be some body there to make sure it doesnt happen again.
except there isnt
in lots of states
consider if the Feds employee data can be hacked, what makes you think your employer cant be too? and that Target hack that happened a while back, was done even when there was an alarm was going off, because they had a tool that detected it, just nobody did any thing, probably because it could have cost sales. oddly enough it probably did any way
I don’t understand why Uber doesn’t have to follow Taxi regulations.
well they claim they are a technology company,. and as you know none of them have to follow any rules.