CarDekho raises $250 million in Series E funding, becomes unicorn

CHENNAI: Used car platform

CarDekho

has become the latest unicorn after raising $250 million in Series E funding.

This round of funding includes $200mn Series E equity and $50mn debt in its pre IPO round. With the latest fundraising, CarDekho joins the unicorn club with a valuation of $1.2 billion and becomes the first unicorn based in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

This is the largest ever fundraise by CarDekho and will be used to grow its used car business as well as further build its financial services and insurance businesses. The money will also be used to further strengthen CarDekho's global footprint in markets like Indonesia and Philippines where it has recently debuted and Malaysia where it will debut soon said Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO, CarDekho. The company plans to go in for an IPO in 18 months, he added.

CarDekho currently buys cars from customers in more than 100 markets and has a catalogue of more than 3,000 certified pre-owned cars for online purchase. The company targeting more than three- fold increase in its catalogue to 10,000 cars in the near future.

Apart from used car buying and retail as well as insurance and financing, the company is also focussing on online EV retail and has tied up with electric two wheeler companies like Ola, Hero Electric,

TVS

and others.

The current funding round was led by LeapFrog Investments, a global impact investor focused on financial services and healthcare access. Other new investors who participated included US based

Canyon Partners

, Mirae Asset and Harbor Spring Capital. CarDekho’s existing investors

Sequoia Capital India

and

Sunley House

invested further. Sequoia Capital India was one of the early investors in CarDekho having led the Series A round in 2013 and Series C round in 2018.

CarDekho’s digital platforms, ‘New Auto’, and its financial services businesses are already profitable and its insurance business, InsuranceDekho.com, has crossed the breakeven point. With the new investment, CarDekho moves closer to its vision of making car buying, selling, and owing an enjoyable, transparent and affordable experience for its customers.

Stewart Langdon

, partner and co-head of South Asian Investments, LeapFrog Investments, said, “We expect the business to continue on its rapid growth trajectory thanks to the calibre of the team and the extraordinary tailwinds which this segment now enjoys from increasing formalisation, digitisation and transparency. CarDekho is an outstanding platform for large scale social impact, already making vehicles more accessible, affordable and trustworthy for over three million emerging consumers. Improving access to mobility in this way will help to drive development in other key areas, such as healthcare and education.”

Shailesh Lakhani, managing director, Sequoia India, said, “The team at CarDekho have built a business that has far exceeded our initial expectations. Several of their business units hold leadership positions, and are now building further expertise in the used cars and financial services space where they are strongly positioned.”

Abhinav Sharman, director, Sunley House Capital, said, "Since our initial investment, the company has had tremendous growth. This new investment will enable CarDekho to accelerate its growth in the auto retail market.”

Numis

and Credit Suisse acted as the financial advisors to CarDekho.


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