Who owns Freenow?
Freenow is owned by Lyft (the United States, NASDAQ: LYFT), which has owned the brand since 2025.[1]
Evidence: Lyft, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-11, SEC EDGAR, 11 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Lyft, Inc. verified
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, San Francisco
- Origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- Category
- Internet & digital › Online commerce › Ride-hailing
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: LYFT
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Freenow
Freenow is the trade name of Intelligent Apps GmbH, a European multimodal app with a taxi offering at its core, which Lyft acquired in July 2025. Lyft says the purchase took it into nine new countries and more than 180 cities. The 10-K describes the business as Freenow, under which Lyft now operates its European ride service alongside the Lyft app in North America.
What Lyft's annual report says about Freenow
Sentences about Freenow from Lyft's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
We entered nine new countries and more than 180 cities through our acquisition of Intelligent Apps GmbH (d/b/a Freenow) in July 2025, a leading European multimodal app with taxi offering at its core.
In July 2025, we expanded our operations beyond North America, entering nine new countries and more than 180 cities through our acquisition of Freenow, a leading European multimodal app with taxi offering at its core.
Freenow conducts all of its operations outside of the U.S. through its German parent company and TBR conducts a majority of its operations, including its U.S. business, through its United Kingdom (the "U.K.") parent company.
How often Lyft names Freenow in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named more often than it was three years earlier.
Ownership timeline of Freenow
Where Freenow sits in Lyft
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Lyft ownership tree →
See the full Lyft brand portfolio (3) →
Other brands owned by Lyft
Lyft controls 3 brands on Brandtree, 3 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
- Lyft (2012)
- TBR Global Chauffeuring
Other brands in ride-hailing, and who owns them
Lyft has more brands in ride-hailing on Brandtree than any other owner: 3 of 16.
About the owner: Lyft
Lyft is a publicly listed company headquartered in San Francisco, United States, founded in 2012. Brandtree records 3 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: LYFT.
Lyft, Inc. is a San Francisco ridesharing company whose 10-K says its ridesharing marketplace launched in 2012 and that it changed its name to Lyft, Inc. in 2013. In 2025 it widened beyond North America by acquiring Intelligent Apps GmbH, which trades as Freenow, in July and TheBookingRoomGroup Limited, which trades as TBR Global Chauffeuring, in October. It also rents cars to drivers through its subsidiary Flexdrive Services, LLC (the Express Drive programme) and runs shared bikes and scooters; those are not listed as separate brands here.
🇩🇪 Freenow and other German brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 243 brands that began in Germany. 90 of them (37%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Freenow among them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Freenow?
The parent company of Freenow is Lyft, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Freenow German or American?
Freenow originated in Germany, but it is owned today by Lyft, which is headquartered in the United States. So Freenow is a German-origin brand under American ownership.
Since when has Lyft owned Freenow?
Lyft has owned Freenow since 2025.
Is Freenow still owned by Lyft?
Yes. As of 11 October 2026, Freenow is still owned by Lyft. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Lyft, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-11 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 11 February 2026; retrieved 2 October 2026.
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