Ride-hailing startup Lyft Inc. is rapidly growing as its revenue passed $1 billion for the first time in 2017 — still behind rival Uber Technologies Inc. but making considerable progress given that it has next to no international exposure.

Lyft today reported a 168 percent annual increase in net revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to Recode, lifting revenue above the $1 billion mark for the entire year. Uber, by comparison, reported only 61 percent growth in the same quarter.

The numbers jibe with a report from The Information in November that claimed leaked figures from Lyft showed the company is surging thanks to the near-constant negative press on Uber. Those numbers included Lyft booking revenue of $483 million in the first six months of 2017, with losses also declining at the same time.

Although Lyft is the smaller player, there’s a radical difference between the two companies: Lyft primarily operates in the United States, while Uber operates across the globe. Lyft has started an international expansion, opening shop in Ontario, Canada, in December. But that does not account for exclusively U.S. revenue surge.

Uber is believed to have booked $7.5 billion in revenue last year, making it Goliath to Lyft’s David. Uber doesn’t list its U.S. revenue figures separately and it also includes subsidiary services such as UberEATS in its total revenue as well.

The long list of mostly self-inflicted negative publicity that befell Uber during the year was mostly focused in the U.S., begging the question: Is Lyft potentially close to becoming more popular than Uber in its home market?

Regardless of Lyft’s current market share and increasing revenue, the company continues to go from strength to strength. In December, the company rolled out its first self-driving car revenue service in Boston and has been rumored since September to be preparing for an initial public offering sometime in 2018.

In another sign of confidence, Alphabet Inc. led a $1 billion investment into Lyft in October in what could be the company’s last venture capital round prior to an IPO.

Photo: urbanists/Flickr